Related: FDA approves first long-acting HIV medication: a monthly injectionThe once-every-two-month injection is for HIV-positive adults who are already virally suppressed, have shown no previous treatment failure or resistance to either of the drugs involved.The FDA granted approval after results from a trial showed the injections remained efficient if given every couple of months.The lead researcher involved with that trial, Turner Overton, MD, a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a statement, “Many people living with HIV face challenges with daily therapies and are interested in alternative dosing options.“In clinical trials, approximately nine out of every 10 trial participants preferred long-acting cabotegravir and rilpivirine dosed every two months compared to daily oral cabotegravir and rilpivirine.”Viiv Healthcare is predominantly owned by GlaxoSmithKline. Lynn Baxter, Head of North America at ViiV Healthcare, said in a statement announcing the approval, “Today’s approval is a remarkable achievement given where HIV treatment was just a decade ago.
