HIV drug lenacapavir is a breakthrough in treating AIDS
The US drug administration has approved the use of the medication as an injection for use against the multidrug resistant form of the virus.
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A significant breakthrough in treating the Human Immunodeficiency Virus came recently with the US Federal Drug Administration approving lenacapavir, a new prototype medication. It uses a unique mechanism of twice-yearly injections to treat individuals with multidrug-resistant HIV.
The development of lenacapavir by Gilead Sciences has been described by the journal Science as the 2024 Breakthrough of the Year.
It noted that it was “a pivotal step toward diminishing HIV/AIDS as a global health crisis”.
The introduction of lenacapavir is potentially a major step forward in the treatment of HIV/AIDS globally.
It could help achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 which sets the target of eliminating HIV/AIDS as a public health threat and moving towards a sustainable HIV response beyond 2030.
The breakthrough comes at a time when HIV/AIDS remains a formidable challenge in global public health since it was discovered in the early 1980s.
Initially identified in the United States, HIV/AIDS has since claimed more than 42 million lives worldwide and infected more than 88 million people. There were 39.9 million people living with AIDs globally at the end of 2023.
While advancements in antiretroviral therapy (ART, a combination of HIV medicines that treats people infected with the virus) have transformed the management of HIV, it continues to pose significant challenges, particularly for individuals with multidrug-resistant strains of the virus.
HIV originated from zoonotic transmission,...
