Cabotegravir Extended-Release Injectable Suspension: A Review in HIV-1 Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis

Declarations

Funding The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.

Authorship and Conflict of interest Hannah Blair is a salaried employee of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature, and declares no relevant conflicts of interest. All authors contributed to the review and are responsible for the article content.

Ethics approval, Consent to participate, Consent to publish, Availability of data and material, Code availability Not applicable.

Additional information about this Adis Drug Review can be found here. 

Abstract

Cabotegravir extended-release (ER) injectable suspension (Apretude™) is the first long-acting injectable option to be approved for HIV-1 pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). As an HIV-1 integrase strand transfer inhibitor, cabotegravir ER injectable suspension prevents DNA integration and inhibits HIV-1 replication. Its slow absorption and long elimination half-life permit infrequent dosing (1 month apart for two consecutive months, and every 2 months thereafter). Cabotegravir ER injectable suspension is indicated in the USA for PrEP to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection in at-risk adults and adolescents weighing ≥ 35 kg who have a negative HIV-1 test prior to initiation. In clinical trials, cabotegravir ER injectable suspension had superior efficacy to oral daily emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (DF) in preventing acquisition of HIV-1 in at-risk transgender women (TGW), cisgender men who have sex with men (MSM), and cisgender women. The drug was generally well tolerated, although further long-term data are needed to fully determine its safety. With its convenient, less-frequent dosing schedule and its long-acting formulation enabling intramuscular administration, cabotegravir ER injectable suspension represents a novel and efficacious alternative to daily oral PrEP.

  

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