A new long-acting injection to prevent HIV is set to be approved for use in England and Wales, offering a major breakthrough in the fight against the virus.
The jab, known as cabotegravir (CAB-LA), is administered once every two months and provides an alternative to the daily oral Prep (pre-exposure prophylaxis) pills used by HIV-negative individuals to reduce infection risk.
In draft guidance released on Friday, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommended the injection for adults and young people at risk of HIV who are unable to take oral Prep. The treatment is already available on the NHS in Scotland.
Health secretary Wes Streeting hailed the decision as “gamechanging.” He said, “For vulnerable people who are unable to take other methods of HIV prevention, this represents hope. England will be the first country to end HIV transmissions by 2030, and this breakthrough treatment is another powerful tool to reach that goal.”
The rollout is expected to begin about three months after Nice publishes its final guidance later this year.
According to the UK Health Security Agency, more than 111,000 people accessed Prep in England in 2024, a 7% increase on the previous year.
Helen Knight, Nice’s director of medicines evaluation, said HIV “remains a serious public health challenge, but we now have powerful tools to prevent new infections.”
Nice estimates that up to 1,000 people a year in England — those unable to use daily oral Prep due to medical or practical reasons — will benefit from the new treatment.
