A large clinical trial in South Africa and Uganda has demonstrated that a new HIV drug could provide complete protection for women against the virus that leads to AIDS, according to a press release issued in June by biopharmaceutical company, Gilead.
The trial, which started in mid-2021 and concluded in mid-2024, included 5,000 participants across multiple sites in both countries. Among them, 2,134 women received a twice-yearly injection of a drug called Lenacapavir to see whether such a treatment every six months would more effectively prevent HIV than existing treatments involving taking daily pills.
Participants in the trial were randomly assigned to one of three treatments. Neither they nor the researchers knew which treatment they were receiving until the trial ended.
The results were remarkable, according to Gilead. While 16 out of 1,068 women who took the daily pill Truvada, and 39 out of 2,136 women who took the daily pill Descovy contracted the virus, none of the women who received Lenacapavir injection contracted the virus, a 100% success rate among those women.
Lenacapavir works by disrupting the protective shell of the HIV virus, which is crucial for its replication, according to Gilead. The drug is injected just under the skin every six months.