US approval for Apretude in HIV first

ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK), has announced that Apretude (cabotegravir), the first and only long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) option to reduce the risk of sexually-acquired HIV-1, has been approved in the USA.

It was approved for use in adults and adolescents weighing at least 35 kg who are at risk of sexually acquiring HIV and who have a negative HIV-1 test prior to initiation. The medicine was studied in men who have sex with men, as well as women and transgender women who have sex with men, who were at increased risk of sexually acquiring HIV.

"People can reduce the risk of acquiring HIV with as few as six injections a year"Cabotegravir long-acting for PrEP is provided as an injection given as few as six times per year and is initiated with a single 600mg injection given one month apart for two consecutive months.