Revolution against HIV: US approves drug to prevent it with two shots a year

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Wednesday the approval of the first bi-annual HIV preventive treatment for sale in the country, according to the drug 's manufacturer, Gilead Sciences.

The drug, called Yeztugo (lenacapavir), was designed to reduce the risk of contracting HIV through sexual contact in adults and adolescents who weigh at least 35 kilograms.

First and only option available in the US

The injectable inhibitor is the first and only semiannual option available in the United States for people who need or want the treatment.

Daniel O'Day, Gilead's chairman and chief executive, called the approval a "pivotal moment in the decades-long fight against HIV," he said in a statement.

The report says clinical trials showed that 99.9% of participants who received it remained HIV-negative.

"Yeztugo will help us prevent HIV on a scale never seen before . We now have a way to end the HIV epidemic once and for all," O'Day added.

For his part, Dr. Carlos del Río, co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research in Atlanta, Georgia, said the biannual injection could "largely" overcome key barriers such as adherence and stigma that people with more frequent dosing regimens, especially daily oral medications, may face. EFE

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