When the antiretroviral regimen known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, was launched nearly a decade ago, patients were suddenly able to achieve near-complete protection against contracting HIV by taking just one pill a day.
But there’s a big hitch: Not everyone is equally diligent about sticking to that once-a-day daily pill regimen, and when doses are missed PrEP’s protective shield weakens considerably.
But researchers may have solved that issue: A first-of-its-kind injectable PrEP given just once every eight weeks.
A three-year, real-world study has just wrapped up, and the results suggest that when patients are given a single shot of PrEP once every two months, their HIV risk ends up being 66% lower than those who’d been trying to rely on a daily pill.