Innovative HIV Prevention Drug Approved in the U.S.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the injectable drug lenacapavir, which will be marketed under the brand name Yeztugo. The drug was developed by Gilead Sciences. This injection will provide protection against sexually transmitted infections.

Lenacapavir is intended to be administered twice a year. This significantly reduces the risk of contracting HIV through sexual contact. Trials have shown that 99.9% of vaccinated individuals had no detectable virus in their blood. Some of the largest-scale studies were conducted in South Africa and Uganda—countries with some of the highest HIV prevalence rates. More than five thousand sexually active women received two injections over the course of a year. Over the following six months, not a single participant contracted the virus. Another study demonstrated nearly the same effectiveness of the drug among gay and transgender individuals in the United States and other countries.

The cost of an annual course of the drug—two injections—will exceed $28,000. It is important to clarify that this is not a vaccine, but rather one of the available and, as clinical trials have shown, reliable methods of disease prevention. Furthermore, it may prevent not only HIV but also other sexually transmitted infections in both men and women.

Representatives of the American Foundation for AIDS Research are confident that the new drug could halt the transmission of the virus. However, the situation is complicated by cuts to the healthcare budget. The Trump administration has recommended a 35% reduction in funding for such initiatives.

Gilead Sciences is an American biopharmaceutical company engaged in the research and development of drugs for the treatment of serious diseases, including HIV and AIDS, hepatitis, influenza, and COVID-19. The company was founded in 1987 in Foster City, California.