July 8, 2024
Late last month, we learned of the exciting interim result of the PURPOSE 1 HIV prevention study of injectable lenacapavir (LEN) for HIV prevention among cisgender women and adolescent girls after an independent monitoring board found it to be safe and highly effective against HIV. AVAC issued a statement calling for early planning to accelerate its regulatory review and for ambitious introduction plans, and the PURPOSE 1 Global Community Accountability Group (GCAG) and the African Women’s Prevention Community Accountability Board also issued a statement celebrating the crucial role of African women and communities in this study.
Today, AVAC, the GCAG and the Accountability Board are joined by the Civil Society Caucus of the Coalition to Accelerate Access to Long-Acting PrEP, and the Coalition to Accelerate and Support Prevention Research (CASPR) in issuing a further call to action, with specific priorities about what needs to happen next.
In addition, AVAC is releasing the Lens on LEN: The basics on injectable lenacapavir as PrEP. This Advocates’ Primer provides background on the product and trials; a summary of the early findings of PURPOSE 1; key remaining questions; and critical next steps.
Read on for more about these resources.
Primer
Download The Lens on LEN: The basics on injectable lenacapavir as PrEP
Global HIV Prevention Advocates Call for Accelerated Timeline for Widespread Access to Twice-Yearly Injectable Lenacapavir for PrEP
In this call to action, the PURPOSE 1 Global Community Accountability Board (GCAG), the Civil Society Caucus of the long-acting PrEP Coalition, the African Women Community Prevention Accountability Board, and the Coalition to Accelerate and Support Prevention Research (CASPR) call on all stakeholders to urgently come together to learn the lessons of past PrEP product introduction and apply them to compress the timeline for making this important new option to become widely available to those who need and want to use it.
New Drug Provides Total Protection from HIV in Trial of African Women
This New York Times article provides terrific perspectives from AVAC partners Linda-Gail Bekker, Yvette Raphael and Lillian Mworeko. “For a young woman who can’t get to an appointment at a clinic in a town, a young woman who can’t keep pills without facing stigma or violence — an injection just twice a year is the option that could keep her free of HIV,” said Lillian Mworeko, who leads a group called the International Community of Women Living With HIV Eastern Africa.
We hope this new primer and our joint call to action are helpful in our collective advocacy to translate these exciting clinical trial results into actual public health impact with speed, scale and equity.