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Advances in Long-Acting Agents for the Treatment of HIV Infection

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Abstract

Long-acting antiretroviral therapy holds the promise of new options for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment beyond the current paradigm of daily oral pills. Of particular interest is their potential role in addressing challenges with adherence to oral therapy and treatment fatigue. Similar to other conditions where long-acting formulations have proven effective such as contraception and mental health, long-acting antiretroviral therapy could provide additional treatment choices to people with HIV. This review provides an outline of the current landscape of long-acting antiretroviral therapy for HIV treatment, both approved and under development, including cabotegravir, rilpivirine, leronlimab, islatravir, albuvirtide, GS-6207, and broadly neutralizaing antibodies. However, there are a number of research gaps for long-acting antiretroviral therapy including issues regarding resistance and understudied populations, and this review highlights some of the challenges that will need to be addressed for clinical implementation of these novel treatment modalities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, 845 19th St South, BBRB 206, Birmingham, AL, 35205, USA

    Aadia I. Rana

  2. Division of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, University of Colorado-AMC, Aurora, CO, USA

    Jose R. Castillo-Mancilla

  3. Division of Infectious Diseases, The Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    Karen T. Tashima

  4. Division of Infectious Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Raphael L. Landovitz

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  1. Aadia I. Rana
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  2. Jose R. Castillo-Mancilla
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  3. Karen T. Tashima
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  4. Raphael L. Landovitz
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Correspondence to Aadia I. Rana.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH100955 to Aadia I. Rana); the UCLA (P30AI028697), UAB (P30AI027767), and Providence/Boston (P30AI042853) Centers for AIDS Research; the UCLA Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services (P30MH58107); and the UCLA Clinical Translational Science Institute (UL1TR001881).

Conflict of interest

Aadia I. Rana has served on an advisory board for ViiV. Raphael L. Landovitz has consulted for and accepted honoraria from Gilead, Merck, and Roche. Karen T. Tashima has served on advisory boards for Gilead and Merck. Jose R. Castillo-Mancilla has no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

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Rana, A.I., Castillo-Mancilla, J.R., Tashima, K.T. et al. Advances in Long-Acting Agents for the Treatment of HIV Infection. Drugs 80, 535–545 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-020-01284-1

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