ViiV Healthcare receives FDA OK for Apretude
ViiV Healthcare has received permission from the Food and Drug Administration for Apretude, the first and only long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis option to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1.
The long-acting injectable was approved for use in adults and adolescents weighing at least 35 kg who are at risk of sexually acquiring HIV and who have a negative HIV-1 test prior to initiation. The medicine was studied in men who have sex with men, as well as women and transgender women who have sex with men, who were at increased risk of sexually acquiring HIV.
Cabotegravir long-acting for PrEP is provided as an injection given as few as six times per year and is initiated with a single 600 mg (3-ml) injection given one month apart for two consecutive months. After the second initiation injection, the recommended continuation injection dose is a single 600 mg (3-ml) injection given every two months. Vocabria (cabotegravir oral tablets) may be administered for approximately one month before initiating the first injection to assess the tolerability of the medicine.
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“People who are vulnerable to acquiring HIV, especially those in Black and Latinx communities who are disproportionately impacted in the U.S., may want options beyond daily oral pills, Deborah Waterhouse, ViiV Healthcare CEO, said. "That’s why ViiV Healthcare is proud that Apretude was studied in one of the most diverse and comprehensive HIV prevention trial programs to date, which also included some of the largest numbers of transgender women and Black men who have sex with men ever enrolled in an HIV prevention trial."
Waterhouse continued, "With Apretude, people can reduce the risk of acquiring HIV with as few as six injections a year. Today’s approval is the latest example of ViiV Healthcare’s commitment to developing long-acting medicines that offer consumers a different choice.”
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Richard Elion, director of research at Washington Health Institute, said. “We have the tools to end the HIV epidemic through the implementation of effective antiretroviral treatment and HIV prevention. PrEP has played a vital role in protecting people from acquiring HIV. With the availability of cabotegravir long-acting for PrEP as an injection every two months to prevent HIV, people now have an important new option besides daily medication."
Elion added, "This long-acting medication offers more options for prevention, and now providers and patients will be empowered by choices and the ability to choose the approach that is optimal for each individual.”
ViiV Healthcare will begin shipping Apretude to wholesalers and specialty distributors in early 2022.