Twice-Yearly Lenacapavir Prevents HIV Infection in Young Women
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, July 26, 2024 -- For adolescent girls and young women, lenacapavir every 26 weeks is beneficial for preventing acquired HIV infection, according to a study published online July 24 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the 25th International AIDS Conference, held from July 22 to 26 in Munich.
Linda-Gail Bekker, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D., from the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and colleagues conducted a phase 3 trial involving adolescent girls and young women who were randomly assigned to receive subcutaneous lenacapavir every 26 weeks, daily oral emtricitabine-tenofovir alafenamide (F/TAF), or daily oral emtricitabine-tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (F/TDF; active control) in a 2:2:1 ratio (2,134; 2,136; and 1,068 participants, respectively). The relative efficacy of lenacapavir and F/TAF was assessed by comparing the incidence of HIV infection versus the estimated background incidence in the screened population (8,094 participants); relative efficacy was compared with F/TDF.
The researchers observed 55 incident HIV infections among 5,338 participants who were initially HIV-negative (0.0, 2.02, and 1.69 infections per 100 person-years in the lenacapavir, F/TAF, and F/TDF groups, respectively). In the screened population, background HIV incidence was 2.41 per 100 person-years. HIV incidence with lenacapavir was significantly lower than background HIV incidence and than HIV incidence with F/TDF (incidence rate ratio for both, 0.00). No significant difference was observed for HIV incidence with F/TAF and background HIV incidence, and no meaningful difference was seen for HIV incidence between F/TAF and F/TDF.
"Twice-yearly lenacapavir offers a highly efficacious and discreet choice to potentially improve preexposure prophylaxis use among women," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Gilead Sciences, which manufactures lenacapavir and funded the study.
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted July 2024
Read this next
FDA Approves Twice-Yearly Yeztugo for Preexposure Prophylaxis to Cut HIV Risk
FRIDAY, June 20, 2025 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Yeztugo (lenacapavir), an injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor, as preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to...
Anal Cancer Screening Cost-Effective for HIV+ Men Who Have Sex With Men ≥35 Years of Age
TUESDAY, June 17, 2025 -- For men who have sex with men (MSM) with HIV, aged 35 years or older, anal cancer screening is cost-effective, according to a study published online June...
Initiation of HIV PrEP in Young Adults Rose in Recent Years
TUESDAY, June 3, 2025 -- Dispensing and initiation of HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among young adults increased from 2016 through 2023, according to a study published online...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.