HIVR4P Highlights, Inclusive Prevention Pipeline, Policy Shaping & More

AVAC’s round-up of resources, updates and insights this week includes highlights from HIVR4P, a new vision for an inclusive prevention pipeline, shaping policy and more!

HIVR4P 2024 conference highlights and recap

The 5th HIV Research for Prevention (R4P) conference was held last week in Lima, Peru. The data and discussions centered on accomplishments in HIV prevention, how far the field remains from reaching targets, understanding how choice works and why it matters, and where the research agenda is headed. As AVAC’s Mitchell Warren told Axios, “lenacapavir is on everybody’s lips here at HIVR4P 2024. That’s probably the second-most popular word this week; I think the most popular word is access.

Read more.

Partners and AVAC launched The People’s Research Agenda (PRA), a global initiative driven by communities and advocates to envision an inclusive HIV prevention pipeline and ensure the voices of those most affected by HIV are integrated into HIV prevention research and development.

Read the report.

Media Highlights

Shaping policy, centering people

AVAC’s Suraj Madoori Joins Developed Country NGO Delegation (DelDev)

Policy Director, Suraj Madoori is one of four new members to join DevDel, one of the 20 voting delegations to the Board of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. DevDel plays a critical role in the development and evolution of organizational strategy, the funding model, the work of the Secretariat and policy.

Read more.

AVAC’s Jessica Salzwedel Talks Community Engagement with National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement

In a mini series on community engagement, the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement interviewed AVAC’s Jessica Salzwedel, Senior Program Manager of Research Engagement on what centering communities truly means.

Listen now.

Avac Event

An Update on the STI R&D Pipeline and Investments

AVAC and Impact Global Health, previously Policy Cures Research, co-hosted a webinar on the current STI R&D pipeline. This discussion featured leading experts sharing the latest advancements in STI diagnostics and treatments, discussing their potential impact on public health and where investments stand.

Speakers:

Mandisa Mdingi, Foundation for Professional Development, South Africa
Cécile Ventola, Senior Technical Officer at Impact Global Health
Birgitta Gleeson, FIND, Switzerland

Recording / Alison Footman Slides / Mandisa Mdingi Slides / Cécile Ventola Slides / Birgitta Gleeson Slides

From Clinical Trial Efficacy to Public Health Impact: A Plan for Accelerating Access to Injectable Lenacapavir for PrEP

This plan provides a broad view of all the moving parts and identifies actions and actors responsible for ensuring time is not wasted and opportunity not squandered.

Spotlight on MPTs Addressing STIs

This graphic outlines the development journey of multipurpose technologies (MPTs) that guard against STIs, including HIV, while also preventing pregnancy. It tracks the advancement of various potential products through different trial stages, emphasizing their combined protective roles. Excerpted from our Advocates’ Guide to Multipurpose Technologies.

AVAC’s Guide to HIVR4P 2024 in Lima

We are looking ahead to the biennial HIV Research for Prevention 2024 conference  in Lima, Peru next week, 6-10 October. HIVR4P is a space where biomedical HIV prevention research, policy and programs takes center stage. Whether you’ll be in Lima or are following from afar, AVAC will keep you connected!

Read on for information on AVAC sessions, a sortable roadmap, the Advocates’ Corner (open all week) and more!

Resources

Use AVAC’s Prevention Roadmap of conference sessions and satellites to find what interests you the most. You can download it as a sortable spreadsheet or PDF.
Advocates’ Corner: If you plan to be in Lima, be sure to join us and our CASPR partners at the Advocates’ Corner to take the conversations and themes deeper. The Advocates’ Corner will be open throughout the conference hosting a program of activities along with materials displays and opportunities for informal networking. Be sure to check the events page for updates on programming.
AVAC’s Coverage: From the latest news on injectable lenacapavir, to updates on the development of next generation prevention options, to the complex work of implementing the tools that exist today and all the advocacy needed to get it all done, our email dispatches to the Advocates’ Network keep you informed. Follow events in real time on Twitter at #HIVR4P2024 and Instagram.
People’s Research Agenda: During HIVR4P, we’ll be releasing the new People’s Research Agenda, a global initiative driven by communities and advocates to define the most urgent priorities, research questions and recommendations for HIV prevention research. We hope it serves as a guide to what is – and should be – discussed at HIVR4P and beyond.

Satellites and Sessions Featuring AVAC and Partners

Sunday, 6 October

Satellite: Creating a Menu of Options: Early R&D of HIV prevention products for women, the MATRIX way, 08:30 – 10:00
Satellite: The Continued Relevance of HIV Vaccines in the Age of Long-Acting Antiretrovirals: Insights from India and Sub-Saharan Africa, 10:30 – 12:00
Satellite: Enhancing service providers’ engagement in PrEP delivery, uptake, and retention in Latin America & the Caribbean, 10:30 – 11:30
Satellite: The brightest under 30: Celebrating youth voices and promoting meaningful youth engagement in HIV prevention research, 10:30 – 12:00
Satellite: Catalyzing Progress in the Inclusion of Pregnant and Lactating People in HIV Prevention Research, 12:30 – 14:00
Satellite: Delivering on the promise: Defining optimal implementation strategies and service delivery packages for the Dual Prevention Pill,14:30 – 16:00
Satellite: What’s Really Going to Work in the Lives of AGYW? Innovations in Acceptability and Mobile Health Support Interventions for HIV Prevention, 12:30 – 14:00
Satellite: Understanding the role and power of advocates and researchers in advancing Discovery Medicine Vaccine Trials (DMVTs) and the development of Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies (bnAbs) for HIV Prevention, 16:30 – 17:30

Monday, 7 October

Satellite: Leveraging SBR to Engage and Empower communities in HIV Prevention Research, 09:00 – 10:00
Satellite: Manifest Choice: Enabling a future free of HIV, 10:30 – 11:30
Satellite: Advancing Good Participatory Practices (GPP) in Research: Enhancing Community Engagement for Impact, 12:30 – 13:30

Tuesday, 8 October

Oral abstract: The big picture: Global trends in HIV prevention, 11:00 – 12:30
AVAC’s Catherine Verde Hashim will present the abstract, Identifying global typologies of HIV PrEP implementation: an analysis of global data using PrEP-to-need ratios and PrEP distribution volumes.
Oral abstract: Novel antiretrovirals and formulations for prevention, 11:00 – 12:40
Jim Pickett will co-moderate this session which will discuss new data on islatravir and lenacapavir for PrEP, U=U and more.

Symposium: Quo vadis: Future design and conduct of vaccine and bNAb clinical trials, 13:30 – 15:00
AVAC’s Grace Kumwenda and colleagues will discuss the viability and practicality of bNAbs as HIV prevention tools.

Symposium: Prevention product profiles for future options, including long-acting PrEP formulations and products, 13:30 – 15:00
Moderated by Mitchell Warren, this session will discuss the issues of choice and combination products in HIV prevention, and will look at Target Product Profiles for various technologies, especially long-acting PrEP options.

Wednesday, 9 October

Symposium: Reducing burdens and barriers to expand the use of HIV prevention options, 13:30 – 15:00
This session will explore the promise, potential and risks of using remote tools, such as telemedicine, virtual tools, apps and self-testing and the impact of other tools used to expand access and uptake of HIV prevention modalities. It will also review approaches to overcome misinformation and mistrust.

Thursday, 10 October

Oral abstract: Policy and legal barriers to HIV services, 08:30 – 10:00
Brian Minalga of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center will present, The transgender scorecard: ensuring representation in HIV prevention research.

Oral abstract: Driving PrEP implementation through community engaged science, 13:00 – 14:30
Esther Nakkazi will present, Using local languages for accurate science reporting in Media Science Cafés in East and Southern Africa.

Find these resources, conference highlights and more at AVAC’s dedicated HIVR4P 2024 page. And watch this space for new opportunities to come together and shape what happens next.

Avac Event

HIVR4P 2024

The 5th HIV Research for Prevention (R4P) conference is being held in Lima, Peru from 6 to 10 October. Held every two years, HIVR4P is the only global conference to focused exclusively on biomedical HIV prevention, including AIDS vaccines, microbicides, PrEP, treatment as prevention and other approaches.

See below for conference highlights, recaps and announcements.

Conference Highlights and Recaps

Announcements

At A Glance: The MPT R&D Pipeline

This graphic shows the status of products in development. Excerpted from our Advocates’ Guide to Multipurpose Technologies.

Advocates’ Guide to Multipurpose Prevention Technologies (MPTs)

Multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) are products designed to simultaneously address more than one sexual and reproductive health concern. This advocates’ guide shows the pipeline of products in development, discusses why MPTs are needed, investment, and what advocates can do to push for MPT development and introduction.

The Future of ARV-Based Prevention and More

The pipeline of non-vaccine HIV prevention products includes oral pills, vaginal rings, vaginal and rectal gels, vaginal films, long-acting injectable antiretrovirals and more. Also pictured are the range of MPTs in development that aim to reduce the risk of HIV and STIs and/or provide effective contraception for women.

Click here for a view of all large-scale prevention trials.

The Lens on LEN

The Basics on Injectable Lenacapavir as PrEP

In 2024, Gilead Sciences released findings from the PURPOSE 1 and PURPOSE 2 trials testing lenacapavir (LEN) as HIV prevention. The PURPOSE 1 trial found 100% efficacy in preventing HIV in 5,300 cisgender women in Uganda and South Africa, and the PURPOSE 2 trial showed a 96% reduction in HIV incidence among cisgender men, trans, and non-binary individuals across multiple countries. Both trials demonstrated LEN’s safety and effectiveness in reducing HIV transmission. This advocates’ primer provides background on the product and trials; a summary of the early findings of PURPOSE 1 & 2; key questions and next steps.

Download the report.