For decades, people living with HIV have had to take daily pills to keep the virus under control. Instead of a daily routine, what if they could receive an injection every two months?
A new study conducted in Africa suggests that long-acting injectable HIV treatment could be just as effective as daily pills—and might offer a new way forward in the fight against HIV.
Long-acting injectable therapy (LA) has become a recommended alternative to oral antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-1 treatment in high-income countries. However, its role in treatment programs in Africa remained uncertain due to differences in demographic factors, viral characteristics, and healthcare infrastructure. To address this gap, the ongoing phase 3b randomized CARES trial was designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of switching from oral ART to LA therapy in African settings.
The CARES trial, conducted across eight sites in Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa, studied whether long-acting injections of two drugs—cabotegravir (CAB) and rilpivirine (RPV)—could match the effectiveness of traditional daily oral antiretroviral therapy (ART).
A year ago, at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024), researchers presented the 48-week results, showing that the injectable treatment was non-inferior to daily pills. Now, at CROI 2025, new 96-week data confirms that long-acting injectables remain highly effective over time, reinforcing their potential as an alternative to daily ART in sub-Saharan Africa.
Read the full news story at Life4me+.
Source : Life4me+
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