Innovative injectable HIV treatment has been given the green light in Great Britain. This was done by the country's National Health Service (NHS).
Now, instead of taking the usual daily antiretroviral pills, patients will be able to do just two injections every two months (6 times an hour).
As is known, HIV is still incurable, but the virus can be fought with the help of modern treatment. At the same time, for some patients, daily intake of tablets may be difficult due to side effects, toxicity, and other psychosocial problems.
"We are pleased to be able to recommend cabotegravir with rilpivirine as a valuable treatment option for people who have been on daily tablets but would like to switch to an injectable regimen with less frequent dosing," said Meindert Boysen, deputy director general of the National Institute for Health Care (NICE). .
NICE said that the drug cabotegravir (also known as Vocabria) from Viiv Healthcare and rilpivirine (also known as Rekambys) from Janssen can be offered to adults who have previously managed to keep their HIV viral load at a low level with the help of daily antiretroviral drugs.
According to the results of clinical trials, cabotegravir with rilpivirine is also effective in maintaining a low viral load, as well as oral antiretroviral drugs.
It is noted that the new injection therapy is capable of reducing the number of days of treatment from 365 to 6 per hour.
