A study published Wednesday,showed that twice-yearly shots used to treat AIDS have shown remarkable success in preventing new infections among women.
The research, conducted in South Africa and Uganda with about 5,000 participants, revealed zero infections in young women and girls who received the injections, contrasting with a 2% infection rate in those using daily prevention pills.
Salim Abdool Karim, director of an AIDS research center in Durban, South Africa, lauded the injections’ effectiveness, stating, “To see this level of protection is stunning.”
The shots, manufactured by U.S. drugmaker Gilead under the name Sunlenca, are currently approved for HIV treatment in various countries like the U.S., Canada, Europe and elsewhere but await further testing in men for infection prevention authorisation.
The promising results, detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at an AIDS conference in Munich, prompted the study’s early termination, with all participants offered the shots, also known as lenacapavir.
Gilead funded the research, with some researchers affiliated with the company, underscoring the potential impact of this breakthrough in AIDS prevention.
