The Food and Drug Administration approved Wednesday a powerful new drug that provides nearly complete protection against HIV infection with just a single administration every six months.
The injection, known chemically as lenacapavir and to be marketed as Yeztugo, has been hailed as the closest thing the field has ever had to a vaccine — a groundbreaking intervention that, if rolled out properly, could bring a 45-year-old pandemic to heel. Drugs to prevent HIV, called PrEP, have been around for a decade, but they generally require taking a daily pill and have not substantially curbed global infections.
“It really could be a game changer, particularly in areas heavily affected by HIV,” said John Brooks, former chief medical officer of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of HIV prevention.
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