Long-acting injectables and implants

There are exciting advances in the development of long-acting injectable and implants to deliver sustained levels of ARV drugs (25, 26). However, like oral PrEP these modalities deliver the drug systemically, which may discourage their use. Major advantages of these delivery strategies are that dosing is discrete and independent of coitus, which should maximise adherence and efficacy.  The HIV prevention clinical pipeline includes long-acting cabotegravir (an integrase inhibitor) as well as daily oral PrEP with Descovry, comprising emtricitibine  and tenofovir alafenamide (a tenofovir prodrug that specifically accumulates in cells to minimise systemic side effects), and antibody-mediated prevention with broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNabs). Please refer to AVAC website for more details (https://www.avac.org/infographic/percolating-pipeline).