Reference News Network, July 27 report - According to the Associated Press on July 25, the European Medicines Agency has approved a preventive HIV injection drug that can be used twice a year. Scientists say this drug may help end the spread of the HIV virus.

In a statement on the 25th, the EU medicine regulatory agency said the evaluation of lenacapavir showed that the drug is "very effective" and "considered to have significant public health importance."

Lenacapavir is sold in Europe by Gilead Sciences under the brand name "Yeytuo." Once the regulatory authority's guidance is accepted by the European Commission, this authorization will take effect in all 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein.

Last year, a study showed that lenacapavir, which has already been used to treat HIV-infected individuals, is almost 100% effective in preventing the transmission of the virus.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of the UNAIDS, said that if everyone who needs it can access this drug, it "may change the trajectory of the HIV epidemic."

In June this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved lenacapavir for the prevention of HIV. Earlier this month, the World Health Organization recommended that countries provide this drug to people at risk of infection, as an additional option.

Other HIV prevention drugs include pills that people can take daily and an injectable called cabotegravir that is administered every two months. Lenacapavir's six-month protection period makes it the longest-acting antiretroviral drug.

However, critics have raised concerns that lenacapavir may not be widely available enough to prevent global HIV outbreaks. Gilead Sciences said it will allow the sale of low-cost generic versions of the drug in 120 high HIV prevalence poor countries, mainly in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean.

But almost the entire Latin America was excluded. Although the HIV infection rate there is much lower, it is on the rise, raising concerns that the world is missing a key opportunity to curb the epidemic.

According to data from the UNAIDS, about 630,000 people died from AIDS worldwide last year, and an estimated 40 million people were infected with the HIV virus. (Translated by Ma Dan)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7531604113210032683/

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