Gilead Sciences announced June 18 that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV, with company executives touting the medication as a “very real opportunity” at ending the HIV epidemic.
In a press release, Gilead said that clinical trials of the drug—called Yeztugo or lenacapavir—showed that the twice-yearly injection was highly effective, with nearly all study participants who took it remaining HIV negative.
“This is a historic day in the decades-long fight against HIV,” Daniel O’Day, chairman and chief executive of Gilead Sciences, said in a statement. “Yeztugo is one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of our time and offers a very real opportunity to help end the HIV epidemic.”…