Annual shot to prevent HIV proven safe

A once-a-year prophylactic injection to protect against HIV has proven to be safe in clinical trial and shown promise as a long-acting prevention medication, a finding that may prove beneficial for the high-risk population who at present have to rely on daily pills or alternate-month shots.

- Rhythma Kaul

NEW DELHI:

A phase 1 randomised control trial of an intramuscular injection (when medication is injected into the muscle tissue) of lenacapavir finds that a once-a-year injection to prevent HIV infection is safe and concentrations of the medication remain in the body for at least 56 weeks.

The new study, published in The Lancet and simultaneously presented at the 2025 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) on Tuesday, is the first to evaluate a once-yearly injection of an HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication.