Moving Ahead with Long-Acting PrEP: Webinar and updated resource on CAB-LA research and advocacy

Long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) for PrEP is causing buzz and raising opportunities and questions for prevention advocates. Whether you’ve got questions or want to know what the buzz is about, AVAC has you covered.

We’ve updated our comprehensive primer on CAB-LA: Advocates’ Primer on Long-Acting Injectable Cabotegravir for PrEP: Understanding the Initial Results of HPTN 083 and HPTN 084, and held a May 3 webinar, 10-11:30am EDT where you can listen to the researchers who led the studies about this injectable PrEP strategy and advocates who are leading essential advocacy efforts around the introduction of CAB-LA.

On the call, lead trial investigators Sinead Delany-Moretlwe from HPTN 084 and Raphy Landovitz from HPTN 083 provided updates, and we were joined by AVAC’s Emily Bass, Chiluyfa Kasanda from TALC in Zambia, Richard Lusimbo from Pan Africa ILGA, and Sibongile Maseko who is an independent consultant and women’s health advocate based in Eswatini.

As our new primer describes, CAB-LA injections every eight weeks provided high levels of protection against HIV in cisgender women, cisgender men who have sex with men and transgender women who have sex with men. That’s truly exciting. There’s also a lot to learn and understand about next steps. A small number of people who received on-time injections and went on to acquire HIV did not test “HIV-positive” on standard antibody-based HIV tests. An even smaller number acquired resistance to integrase inhibitors—the class that includes cabotegravir and dolutegravir. In addition to these crucial issues, it’s also important to focus on questions of access. For those who want an injectable PrEP strategy, CAB-LA needs to be accessible and affordable.

What do the trial results explain, what still needs to be explored, and what do advocates think needs to happen next? Check out the updated resource and register the webinar to engage with it all!