The first injectable HIV prevention medication has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Apretude, a new drug, is given to patients every two months via injection. Prior to the approval, there were only two types of HIV prevention medication that were approved. Truvada and Descovy are both oral medications that must be taken once daily.
Apretude, on the other hand, is injected every other month, which distinguishes it from existing medications Truvada and Descovy, which are taken orally once a day. It is also $3,700 per dose.
Apretude was found to be significantly more effective than Truvada in lowering the risk of transmission among cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men (69%), particularly among cisgender women (90 percent).
Daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications, like daily oral birth control or hepatitis C medication, must be taken fairly consistently in order to be effective. A long-lasting injectable could be revolutionary for some people who struggle to stick to a daily medication schedule for a variety of reasons, including chaotic drug use or being homeless.
The FDA believes that approving Apretude will be the next step toward effectively ending the HIV epidemic.
Apretude is administered in two one-month-apart injections, followed by two two-month injections. Patients have the option of receiving only Apretude or taking the oral medication Vocabria to see how their bodies react to the drug.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, using PrEP reduces the risk of contracting HIV from sex by 99 percent and the risk of infection from injection drug use by at least 74%. However, strict adherence to daily medication is critical for reaping the protective benefits.
PrEP medications work by inhibiting an enzyme that allows the HIV virus to replicate within the human body. Truvada was approved in 2012, and Descovy was approved in 2019 for people who do not have vaginal tissue. When used as directed, they can provide approximately 99 percent protection against HIV transmission through sex and approximately 80 percent protection against HIV transmission through injection drug use.
