#prep research

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been a beneficial fight against the spread of HIV. What started with the pills Truvada and Descovy transitioned into a PreP ring and a recent long-acting injectable to help people avoid the day-to-day doses. Outside of the medically prescribed daily dose of PrEP, however, some people take the PrEP pills only before and after sex instead of all the time, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has noted that some off-label, “on-demand” PrEP is protective for men having anal sex with no condom. With all that in mind, a group of researchers under the Contraceptive Research and Development (CONRAD) program are studying whether a quick-dissolving pill inserted into the rectum or vagina would be an effective form of on-demand PrEP. According to Managed Healthcare Executive, the experimental rectal pill contains 20 milligrams of tenofovir alafenamide (Descovy) and 16 milligrams of elvitegravir. -“In nonhuman primates, the insert provided protection from infection when used in the vagina and the rectum,” said Sharon A. Riddler, M.D., professor of infectious diseases at the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine.

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Since 2017, a joint study between the Centers for Disease Control Prevention and the University of North Carolina has worked to develop an injectable implant that can release pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications into the body for an extended period of time. The latest research, published in Nature Communications, shows that the most recent formulation can provide up to six months of full protection against HIV in non-human primates. “This is the first time we showed 100% protection against multiple virus challenges in a macaque model of PrEP over an extended period of time,” said Rahima Benhabbour, PhD, MSc, associate professor at the UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering in a statement. “Our goal with this technology is a once or twice-yearly injection that could be self-administered.” Benhabbour and team have focused on refining the material contained in the injection, using cabotegravir, which is currently available as an injection every two months, as the main focus.