Nature's big break! Develop HIV drugs that only need to be administered twice a year!

, July 3, 2020 /PRNewswire-bio-valley,, scientists report that preliminary progress has been made in an AIDS drug that may be taken only a few times a yearthe experimental drug, called lenacapavir, can be injected once to lower levels of HIV in the blood of a small group of patientsIt is able to maintain effective drug levels in the blood for more than six monthsall this increases the likelihood that aids treatment will be available for treatment for AIDS only once a yearDrMartin Rhee, co-author of thestudy, said oral combination therapy for HIV is generally effective at the moment, often referred to as "cocktail therapy." "But patients often say that taking pills every day can become a burden over time," said Rhee, who is a gilead science companyHead of clinical research, the company is developing lenacapavirtherefore, it is hoped that long-acting AIDS drugs will "make people no longer take drugs every day"Photo Source: Nature
Rhee points out that long-acting drugs may provide an easier way to prevent HIV in high-risk populations: currently, this can be achieved through a daily pill therapy called PrEP (Pre-exposure Prevention)However, Rhee said there was still a lot of work to be doneThe new study, published July 1 in the journal Nature, provides a "principle proof" that it is possible to administer the drug every six monthsresearchers found that in 40 healthy people, lenacapavir appeared to be safe and able to stay active for more than six monthsIn 32 untreated HIV patients, one injection can reduce the level of the virus in the blood within nine daysencouraging, the drug "can be administered every six months," said Rajesh Gandhi, an infectious disease doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital in BostonGandhi, who is also president-designate of the AIDS Medicine Association, also believes that long-acting AIDS drugs are necessaryproblem is that HIV cannot be treated with a single drug, and multiple drugs can help suppress the virus and limit its chances of developing resistance to the drug, Gandhi explains, two long-acting drugs must be used at the same time if a twice-yearly treatment plan is to become a realityhe said, "So the question is, what do you want to do with this drug?"Rhee said Gilead was working with such a partnerMore directly, researchers will study the effects of taking lenacapavir every six months in AIDS patients who have tried many standard drugs and are resistant to themother long-acting drugs to treat AIDS are also being developed -- even though they are used more than twice a yearresearchers are looking at a combination of two injectable drugs -- cabotegravir and rilpivira -- that are used once a monthIt is hoped that standard oral drugs will suppress HIV in patients to very low levelsmeanwhile, cabotegravir is also being tested for HIV prevention in high-risk populations, according to the National Institutes of HealthIn these trials, injections are made every two months, however, while infrequent doses can be convenient and hopefully make it easier to adhere to, there are safety issuesFor example, if people have side effects of drugs, does that mean they have to stay on for six months?to avoid this, Gandhi said, the study has used an "import" phase in which patients take oral long-acting drugs first to ensure they can tolerate thembut another concern, Says , says, is what might happen if patients miss or delay injections: As the drug levels in the body drop, the virus may return and become resistant to the drug Rhee agrees, this is the problem that all long-acting AIDS drugs under development will face Despite this, according to Gandhi, the progress of new drugs is encouraging People living with HIV should know that scientists are still working on new treatments -- including possible cures-- he said "We remain committed to finding a cure," says Gandhi (BioValleyBioon.com) References: Link, J.O., Rhee, M.S., Tse, W.C et al.
Clinical targeting of HIV capsid protein with a long-acting small molecule.
Nature (2020) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2443-1
An HIV drug you only take twice a year?