Quarterly Injections May Be Future For Treatment And Prevention Of HIV/AIDS

Via the New York Times:

Researchers are reporting that injections of long-lasting AIDS drugs protected monkeys for weeks against infection, a finding that could lead to a major breakthrough in preventing the disease in humans. Two studies by different laboratory groups each found 100 percent protection in monkeys that got monthly injections of antiretroviral drugs, and there was evidence that a single shot every three months might work just as well. If the findings can be replicated in humans, they have the potential to overcome a major problem in AIDS prevention: that many people fail to take their antiretroviral pills regularly.

Human trials will begin this year.

The human trial expected to start later this year will be small, enrolling only 175 people in the United States, South Africa, Malawi and Brazil. Dr. El-Sadr, of Columbia, said the study should take up to three years before a larger trial to see if the injection method works in people as effectively as it does in monkeys. Human trials take time and require huge numbers of participants, partly because it is unethical to conduct a trial without offering participants all the options approved, including condoms and the pill versions of PreP.