the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The Promise and Challenges of Long Acting Injectable Medication in HIV Prevention and Treatment 

Over 40 years into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we now have a new way to deliver medication to treat and prevent the disease. In January 2021, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the very first long-acting injectable medication (LAI for short) for treating HIV. In December of that same year, the FDA approved an LAI for pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) to prevent HIV infection. Extensive clinical trials found these LAIs to be safe, effective, and rare to fail.