FDA approves first injectable drug to prevent HIV

A new injectable treatment for HIV pre-exposure prevention, or PREP, has been approved by the Federal Drug Administration.

The drug, Apretude, is approved for at-risk adults and adolescents who weigh at least 77 pounds to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV, the FDA announced Monday.

“Today’s approval adds an important

tool in the effort to end the HIV epidemic by providing the first option to prevent HIV that does not involve taking a daily pill,” Debra Birnkrant, director of the Division of Antivirals in the FDA’S Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the announcement.

After the initial two injections, Apretude is administered one month apart, then every two months after that. The hope is that high-risk individuals, like men who have sex with men, will have better adherence to taking the PREP injectable option every two months versus taking a pill everyday.

In a trial with 4,566 men and transgender women who have sex with men, participants received Apretude or Truvada, a daily PREP medication.

The results showed those who took Apretude had a 69% less risk of getting infected with HIV compared to those who took Truvada, according to the FDA.