New Long-Acting Drugs Enhance HIV Treatment & Prevention, Says Simit Director
ROME, November 27, 2025 – A new class of long-acting drugs is substantially improving HIV treatment adherence and expanding prevention options, according to Massimo Andreoni, scientific director of Simit – the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, and member of the Superior Health Council. Andreoni highlighted the advancements at the ‘Ist-Hiv Call 2025’ event in Rome today.
“The treatment of HIV infections today has achieved amazing successes,” Andreoni stated. “In all patients who regularly take the therapy it is indeed possible to control the replication of the virus and thus transform these people into subjects who increasingly resemble the rest of the population. The disease is no longer transmitted in these patients: it is a great success.”
The introduction of long-acting antiretroviral therapy improves patient adherence, a critical factor for lifelong treatment. These drugs allow for management only every two months, offering greater convenience and peace of mind.
Beyond treatment, andreoni noted the positive impact on HIV prevention. Long-acting drugs are also proving effective in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), offering a “winning strategy” to further contain infection rates in Italy. The World Health Organization aims to reduce new infections in Italy to fewer than 500 annually, a goal Andreoni believes is increasingly attainable wiht these advancements.
Currently, oral PrEP requires high adherence, but the advent of long-acting options promises to bolster preventative efforts.
