The Scientific Journey of Lenacapavir — and the Urgency to Defend HIV Prevention Science 

On June 11, AVAC hosted a conversation, The Scientific Journey of Lenacapavir: From basic science to clinical development to impact, to explore how US support from NIH for basic science and South Africa’s clinical research infrastructure made possible the development of lenacapavir for PrEP (LEN), a discovery in HIV prevention that went on to be named Science magazine’s 2024 Breakthrough of the Year.

As the field anticipates initial regulatory approval from the US FDA by June 19 and a WHO recommendation in July, Linda-Gail Bekker of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, Wes Sundquist of the University of Utah and Mitchell Warren of AVAC underscored how this moment of promise is threatened by sweeping attacks on science, research and the very systems that made the development of LEN possible.

Avac Event

100 Days In: How HIV Advocates are Meeting the Moment

In its first 100 days, the Trump administration proposed deep cuts to public health and HIV funding, attacked evidence-based healthcare, defunded scientific research, rolled back protections for LGBTQ+ people, and emphasized punitive criminal legal approaches. These moves pose serious threats to the future of HIV-related services, care, prevention, and the broader struggle for health equity and racial justice in our multiracial democracy.

Join CHLP for this moderated panel discussion focused on what the first 100 days of the Trump administration have meant for our communities, particularly people living with HIV, Black and brown people, LGBTQ+ people, and those impacted by criminalization, and how we are collectively shifting strategy to meet the current political moment.

Panelists

  • Michael Elizabeth, Equality Federation
  • Venita Ray, Black South Rising
  • John Meade, PrEP in Black America, AVAC
  • Chauncey McGlathery, American Academy of HIV Medicine
  • Jada Hicks & Sean McCormick, CHLP

Why HIV Prevention Must Not Be Left Behind

In this presentation at the INTEREST 2025 conference, Rhoda Msiska of Copper Rose Zambia emphasizes the urgency of protecting the progress made in scaling up PrEP and the need to act now to expand access to new HIV prevention tools like injectable lenacapavir (LEN) and the Dual Prevention Pill (DPP).

Avac Event

Science in the Crosshairs: Research Advocacy in a Time of Crisis

AVAC and partners had a critical conversation on the escalating threats to health research and equity-centered science. This webinar unpacked the implications of the proposed FY2026 US federal budget—which includes sweeping cuts to NIH, CDC, USAID, and the elimination of vital global and minority health research programs. Together, we explored what these attacks mean for communities, researchers, and implementers and identified actionable advocacy strategies to fight back.

Recording / Slides / Resources

Better Engagement, Better Evidence

Working in partnership with patients, the public, and communities in clinical trials with involvement in good participatory practice

Writing in the Lancet Global Health, AVAC staffers Stacey Hannah, Jessica Salzwedel, and several co-authors, write about the importance of community stakeholder engagement clearly seen after World Health Organization adoption of new rules requiring clinical trials to improve this kind of coordination.

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WHO-Lancet Global Health Series: Shaping the Future of Clinical Trials

WHO and partners will convene to launch the Lancet Global health series: Shaping the Future of Clinical Trials. Details and registration link below.

We’re Going Back to Court

New developments in our legal battle against the United States government

Three weeks ago, AVAC, as well as the Global Health Council and partners, sued the U.S. State Department and government officials including the President, to end the freeze on foreign assistance funding that is harming global health and development programs, including lifesaving HIV prevention efforts. 

On February 13, a US federal district court immediately granted a temporary restraining order and directed the government to lift the freeze and restore funding while our lawsuit progresses. Since then, the administration has repeatedly refused to restart funding, and the court has made clear more than once that the continued freeze is unlawful.  

“The government comes to this Court with an emergency of its own making,” our lawyers wrote in a filing.

The lengths that the government is willing to go to flout a court order, all for the goal of ending life-saving humanitarian assistance, is staggering,” they said.

Now we have a court date: this Thursday, March 6 at 2pm Eastern Standard Time, we will be in Washington, DC, to make the case for human rights, health and dignity – and the government paying its bills.

This fight is far from over, and your support has been instrumental in reaching this point, and together, we can continue to champion the rights and health of communities worldwide. 

How you can stay connected:

These are immensely challenging times for all of u, and it is easy to be paralyzed, overwhelmed and depressed. But we’ve all come too far for that to be the new normal.  Lives, economies and democracies depend on our collective ability to stand up and fight back. 

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CROI 2025 Community Breakfast Meetings

The Community Breakfast Clubs are virtual webinars coordinated by the CROI Community Liaisons, the European AIDS Treatment Group, AVAC, and their global collaborators. They feature researchers and advocates discussing some of the most consequential science being presented at CROI.

Session Recordings

Breaking New Ground: The latest advances in HIV cure
March 10, 2025

AVAC, the CROI Community Liaison Subcommittee and European AIDS Treatment Group hosted the first virtual Community Breakfast Meeting (CBMs) for the 2025 CROI meeting. Speaker details and recording below:

Moderator: Michael Louell, University of Washington-Seattle, Fred Hutch Center for AIDS research 

Speakers

  • Dr. Katie Bar, University of Pennsylvania, CROI Scientific Program Committee 
  • Dr. Marina Caskey, Rockerfeller University 
  • Dr. Steven Deeks, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) 
  • Ms. Doreen Mora Moracha, HIV Cure Advocate- Kenya, CROI Community Educator Scholar

The End of AIDS — Near and Far? (40 Years of HIV)
March 11, 2025

AVAC, the CROI Community Liaison Subcommittee and European AIDS Treatment Group hosted the second virtual Community Breakfast Clubs (CBCs) for the 2025 CROI meeting. Speaker details and recording below: 

Moderator: Grace Kumwenda, AVAC 

Speakers: 

  • Dr. Chris Beyrer, Duke Global Health Institute
  • Chilufya Kasanda, Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign – Zambia, CROI Community Educator Scholar
  • Dr. Mitch Matoga, UNC, Malawi

Still Here! Living with HIV Long-Term
March 12, 2025

AVAC, the CROI Community Liaison Subcommittee and European AIDS Treatment Group hosted the third and final virtual Community Breakfast Clubs (CBCs) for the 2025 CROI meeting. Speaker details and recording below:

Moderator: Sean Hosein, European AIDS Treatment Group – Canada

Speakers:

  • Kennedy Mupeli, Center for Youth of Hope – Botswana, CROI Community Educator Scholar
  • Dr. Peter Hunt, University of California San Francisco, CROI Scientific Program Committee
  • Dr. Laura Waters, The Mortimer Market Centre – London

Avac Event

Introducing the Dual Prevention Pill: Lessons Learned and What’s Next for Regulatory, Research, and Rollout

This webinar has been cancelled because funding was pulled by the new US administration. Follow critical developments in US policies and their impact on global health via our new newsletter. Learn more here.

Join the IMPT and guest speakers from AVAC and Population Council for a discussion on the dual prevention pill (DPP)—a single pill that combines oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and oral contraception (OC) to prevent HIV and pregnancy. If approved, the DPP will be the first multi-purpose prevention technology (MPT) to be marketed since condoms.

The discussion will include real-time learnings to inform the broader MPT field on the DPP’s regulatory approval process, acceptability study results in South Africa and Zimbabwe, implementation updates, and lessons learned. 

There will be a Q&A session following the presentations.

Community-Led Monitoring: Transforming the HIV response in Malawi

For several years now, Community-Led Monitoring has been on the rise in the HIV response, and particularly in East and Southern Africa. Known as CLM for short, it’s a tactic being championed and implemented to ensure that communities play a direct role in monitoring and improving HIV services.

In this episode of PxPulse: The Advocacy Chronicles we delve into CLM in Malawi, where civil society and communities are successfully using this approach to connect government decision makers to the gaps in HIV services and to what people really need. Thanks to persistent advocacy, both PEPFAR and Global Fund now recognize, through their funding, the critical role of CLM.

The episode features David Kamkwamba, a journalist and health advocate and the former chair of the Civil Society Advocacy Forum on HIV and related diseases, commonly known as CSAF tells us what advocates have accomplished in Malawi and just how they did it. CSAF and AVAC are partners in the Coalition to Build Momentum, Power, Activism, Strategy & Solidarity (COMPASS) which has supported extensive work on community-led monitoring in Malawi and across the region.

Listen

Download the full podcast (19:55) or listen below.

Resources