A long-acting injectable medication to prevent HIV is set to be approved for use in England and Wales, offering a new option for those unable to take daily preventative pills.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has issued draft guidance recommending cabotegravir (CAB-LA) for at-risk adults and young people who cannot use oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (Prep). Administered every two months, the injection provides an alternative method of HIV prevention.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting hailed the decision as “gamechanging,” stating, “For vulnerable people who are unable to take other methods of HIV prevention, this represents hope.”
The rollout is anticipated to commence approximately three months after Nice finalizes its guidance later in 2024.The injection is already available in Scotland.
Prep, typically used by HIV-negative individuals to lower their risk of infection, is seeing increased uptake. more than 111,000 people in England accessed Prep through sexual health clinics in 2024, a 7% rise from the previous year, and overall Prep use is up 8% this year, according to the UK Health Security agency (UKHSA).
Nice estimates up to 1,000 individuals in England will benefit from the new injectable treatment annually, addressing a need for those wiht medical contraindications or other barriers to daily oral Prep. helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at Nice, emphasized that while HIV “remains a serious public health challenge,” “we now have powerful tools to prevent new infections.”
The UK government aims to end HIV transmissions in England by 2030, and this new treatment is viewed as a notable step towards achieving that goal.
