Gilead Results On Injectable Lenacapavir For PrEP
21 June 2024
MEDIA RELEASE
Friday, 21 June 2024 – Johannesburg
Wits RHI is delighted to share these groundbreaking results from the US pharmaceutical company Gilead’s Phase 3 Purpose 1 trial which indicated that the company’s twice-yearly injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor, lenacapavir, demonstrated 100% efficacy for the investigational use of HIV prevention in cisgender women. This marks a significant step forward in HIV prevention. Wits RHI’s Professor Thesla Palanee-Phillips, a lead researcher on the trial who co- managed the Wits RHI Research Centre Clinical Research site in Hillbrow Johannesburg in South Africa where 212 number young women were enrolled, said “ This is a pivotal moment in HIV prevention and we stand proud and with gratitude alongside the women in South Africa and Uganda who contributed to this outcome. Our study team is both thrilled and humbled to have contributed to this Phase 3 trial that is the first HIV prevention trial ever in history to show zero HIV infections with an intervention. We look forward to next steps and expanding HIV prevention choice for women in Africa and the world”.
Co-Principal Investigator and clinician on the trial alongside Prof Palanee-Phillips, Dr Nkosiphile Ndlovu shares her sentiments “This is an exciting time to be alive. These exceptional results will help us expand HIV prevention options for African women. For once, we are in the forefront of groundbreaking research as Africans.”
For the official statement:
About Wits RHI
Wits RHI is a renowned African research institute based at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) , a world class African University. Wits RHI addresses some of the greatest public health concerns affecting our region. Wits RHI is the largest research institute affiliated with the Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits.
The institute was established by Prof Helen Rees in 1994 to assist the new South African government to formulate and implement new national policies around sexual and reproductive health. It has become an African institute leading multidisciplinary research, focusing mainly on HIV, sexual reproductive health, and vaccine-preventable diseases. Recently, Wits RHI expanded its portfolio to include COVID-19 and other respiratory pathogens, emerging global health crises (including antimicrobial resistance), and climate change and health. Its research studies are carried out in collaboration with multiple partners within and outside the African region.
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| Scheduling media interviews:
Gilead: Cub Barrett |
