New HIV drug offers '100 percent protection'

Published 25 July 2024 at 17.58

Foreign. A new study shows that two shots per year with the drug lenacapavir provide 100% protection against HIV. This is described as a major breakthrough.

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The study, which involved around 5,000 young women in South Africa and Uganda, has been published in the prestigious journal The New England Journal of Medicine.

Swedish state epidemiologist Magnus Gisslén considers the results to be promising.

– The result is very important for the possibility of preventing HIV in developing countries from a broader perspective. The treatment also appeared to lack significant side effects, Gisslén told TT.

Despite the success of the new treatment, there are still challenges to overcome. The biggest problem is probably the cost – a year's treatment costs upwards of half a million kroner.