Dear Advocate,
The US presidential administration released its full US FY26 budget proposal on Friday, and it includes a series of devastating cuts that threaten to roll back HIV prevention efforts in the US and globally by decades. In a cruel irony, this proposal comes just as the field reaches a moment of historic promise in HIV prevention.
Lenacapavir (LEN), the twice-yearly injectable form of HIV PrEP, is expected to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this month, and WHO is expected to release a recommendation and guidelines in July. Named Science magazine’s 2024 “Breakthrough of the Year,” LEN for PrEP represents the culmination of decades of investment in the earliest stages of scientific innovation, from basic science to global partnerships.
LEN for PrEP shows what’s possible when the world invests in HIV prevention. However, the NIH is initiating a new policy to prevent international research, including within the HIV clinical trial networks, other HIV clinical trials are halted, leading HIV vaccine discovery research is terminated, and PEPFAR prevention programming is defunded.
Just how important is basic science research to product development? And how vital is the South African research infrastructure for innovation in HIV and TB? Well, as just one example, without NIH investments over the past two decades, the world would not be on the cusp of approval and introduction of LEN for PrEP.
Join us on Wednesday, June 11 at 11am ET for an essential conversation on what’s at stake.
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