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VIDEO: Long-acting agents may increase number of patients on therapy, bring new people into care
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Despite improvements in ART over the last 4 to 5 years, there are still many patients with HIV not in care, and strategies are needed to “really reach everyone,” according to Joseph Eron, MD, of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Developing novel treatments will help achieve 2 goals, Eron said – increase the number of people on treatment and bring new patients into care – and he sees long-acting agents as one of the most effective ways to attain them. He describes the different therapies being investigated, including agents that could be delivered once a month or once every 2 to 3 months, and the benefits of this approach.
He also draws a comparison between long-acting HIV regimens and the different delivery methods available for birth control. Offering a number of delivery routes for HIV therapy is “a long-term goal,” Eron said.
“We are talking about having to treat people not for 5 years or 10 years – but treating people for decades. So we need all kinds of therapy … that can really reach everyone.”