South Africa: Positive Interim Findings On New Once-Weekly HIV Treatment Pill

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Spotlight report from Cape Town, says interim results from two phase 3 studies suggest a once-weekly HIV treatment pill can control the virus about as well as standard daily antiretroviral tablets. The findings, due to be presented at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, relate to a two-drug combination of islatravir and lenacapavir, tested among people already stable on HIV treatment.

The studies, ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2, enrolled 607 and 624 participants respectively and compared people switched to the weekly pill with those remaining on existing regimens. ISLEND-1 used a blinded design and a bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide control, while ISLEND-2 was open-label and compared the pill with local standard-of-care treatment, including at South African trial sites. Both trials are designed to run for 96 weeks; the reported findings cover the first 48 weeks.

According to the report, the weekly pill met non-inferiority criteria and was described in conference materials as effective and generally well tolerated. At 48 weeks, no participants on the weekly pill in ISLEND-1 had viral load above the study threshold, compared with one in the control arm. In ISLEND-2, one person on the weekly pill and four on standard care were above the threshold.

The development matters because most of South Africa’s more than six million people on HIV treatment currently take a daily tablet. A weekly option could reduce pill burden and may help some patients with adherence, though final trial results, regulatory review, pricing and rollout decisions would still be needed before it could become routine care.