NEW TREATMENT for multi-drug-resistant HIV will be made available on the NHS following new recommendations, it announced today.
Hundreds of people in the UK living with a rare mutation of the deadly HIV virus that is resistant to all other antiviral medications will now receive breakthrough treatment lenacapavir following a recommendation from the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group.
While existing antiretroviral treatments work for most people infected with HIV to achieve undetectable viral loads and live long and healthy lives, there is a small number of people who do not respond to them.
Now, NHS England has announced that for the first time, patients will receive what has been labelled a ‘trailblazing’ new medicine that works by targeting the virus’s protective outer capsid to prevent it from reproducing.
This novel approach to treating the virus, which is usually tackled through enzyme inhibitors, will offer new hope to those facing serious illness and death from a previously untreatable form of the disease.
Lenacapavir, which is a first-of-its-kind drug, will also help reduce the viral load in patients so they are unable to pass it on to others.
Administered through a combination of oral and injectable doses, patients will first start treatment by taking a tablet for two days, another tablet eight days later, followed by two injections on day 15.
After initial treatment, patients will only need to receive a maintenance dose through an injection bi-annually, making it much more convenient that some other treatments currently available to HIV patients.
The NHS estimates that within the next three years, the treatment could be available to 300 people in England, and they are already contacting those eligible to receive their first dose as soon as possible.
There are currently around 100,000 people in England living with HIV, and although there is currently no definitive cure for the disease, the majority of those with it are now able to lead normal, long and health lives.
Today’s announcement is part of a wider plan to eliminate the spread of HIV in England by 2030, which also includes initiatives such as opt-out testing in A&E departments, easily available at-home testing kits which can be ordered on the NHS App, and a national programme to re-engage people back into life-saving HIV care and treatment.
John Stewart, National Director for Specialised Commissioning at NHS England, said: “This trailblazing drug will offer a lifeline to people living with HIV for whom conventional treatments have not worked and options are currently limited – giving them the opportunity to live a normal, healthy and long life.
“It’s fantastic news that this treatment will offer fresh hope to hundreds of patients going forward and help transform HIV into a manageable condition for them.
“Alongside the NHS’s opt-out blood testing programme in A&Es, which is finding thousands of undiagnosed cases every year, and the rollout of home-testing kits and new injectable treatments, this is another step forward in care that will bring us closer to our goal of eliminating HIV in England the next decade.”
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