New Injectable Treatment Option for Patients with HIV

Experimental drug may allow patients to take one dose per month.

The HIV community has a new reason to be hopeful as scientists work to develop a treatment option that could leave patients taking one dose per month and leading fairly normal lives.

The injectable drug, PRO 140, is the first of its kind to treat HIV and would require patients to inject themselves once in each thigh, once a week, or possibly once a month.

Trials of the drug have yielded extremely positive results, with up to 98% of HIV-infected patients successfully keeping their viral loads suppressed for at least one month. Some HIV patients using PRO 140 are continuing to experience a completely suppressed viral load for the last 11 months.

CytoDyn, a biotechnology company focused on the clinical development and potential commercialization of humanized monoclonal antibodies for the treatment and prevention of HIV, has the go-ahead to start its phase 3 clinical trial of the drug. The company may use its status as the first injectable treatment option for HIV to acquire a “breakthrough” designation that would fast track its

New Drug Application for final approval in November 2016.

“PRO 140 seems to be quite popular with news and comment sites that cater to the gay community; New Now Next, Edge Media, HIV Equal, Randy Report, POZ and many others are closely following our news and press releases,” said Nader Pourhassan, CEO of CytoDyn Inc, clinical developer of PRO 140.

If the clinical trials continue to yield significantly positive results, the drug could be available to the public as early as 2017. Patients with HIV could be exposed to a groundbreaking treatment option in as little as two years if all goes according to plan.