'Stunning' study shows twice-a-year jab could offer 100% protection against HIV infection

A jab given twice-yearly to treat AIDs was found to be 100 per cent effective in preventing new infections in women, according to the results of a new study published on Wednesday.

Researchers reported that there were no infections in the young women and girls who got the shots in a study of about 5,000 in South Africa and Uganda.

In a group given daily prevention pills, roughly 2 per cent ended up catching HIV from infected sex partners.

"To see this level of protection is stunning," said Salim Abdool Karim of the injections. He is the director of an AIDS research center in Durban, South Africa, who was not part of the research.

The shots made by US drugmaker Gilead and sold as Sunlenca are approved in the US, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere, but only as a treatment for HIV.

The company said it is waiting for results of testing in men before seeking permission to use it to protect against infection.

The results in women were published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine and discussed at an AIDS conference in Munich.

Gilead paid for the study and some of the researchers are company employees. Because of the surprisingly encouraging results, the study was stopped early and all participants were offered the shots, also known as lenacapavir.

While there are other ways to prevent HIV infection, like condoms or daily pills, consistent use has been a problem in Africa.

In the new study, only about 30 per cent of participants given Gilead's Truvada or Descovy prevention pills actually took them - and that figure dropped over time.

The prospect of a twice-a-year shot is "quite revolutionary news" for our patients, said Thandeka Nkosi, who helped run the Gilead research at the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation in