HIV coverage on this site focuses on the peptide-adjacent modalities driving the next generation of prevention, treatment, and eventual cure strategies. The center of that landscape is currently long-acting formulations that reduce the daily-pill adherence burden and expand real-world effectiveness in high-incidence populations.
Gilead Sciences's twice-yearly injectable lenacapavir (Yeztugo for HIV prevention, Sunlenca for treatment) is the lead first-in-class HIV capsid inhibitor. It received FDA approval in June 2025 as the first twice-yearly subcutaneous PrEP option and is deployed across 10 priority sub-Saharan African countries through PEPFAR and Global Fund investments. Generic lenacapavir at approximately $40 per person per year from six manufacturers is expected in 2027 across 120 low- and lower-middle-income countries. Merck's alimatravir (MK-8527) is an investigational once-monthly oral HIV prevention pill in Phase 3 development, licensed July 24, 2026 to Aspen Pharmacare and six other generic manufacturers for 129 low- and middle-income countries. The Gilead-Merck once-weekly oral islatravir/lenacapavir (ISL/LEN) Phase 3 ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2 detailed data were presented at AIDS 2026 in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday July 29, 2026.
Broader HIV policy context includes the UNAIDS 'United to End AIDS' 2025 data report (released July 27, 2026) on the severity of 2025 HIV funding cuts and the WHO's first global mid-term assessment of progress under the Global Health Sector Strategies (halfway point to the 2030 targets). Stories here cover trial readouts, commercial launches, generic access programs, and the intersection between HIV prevention scale-up and global health infrastructure. See [[lenacapavir]], [[hiv-prevention]], [[gilead]], and [[aids-2026]] for adjacent threads.
A CROI 2026 (Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections) analysis presented earlier in 2026 documented that GLP-1 weight-loss medications generally work well for people living with HIV who are stable on antiretroviral therapy. Beyond the known obesity and type 2 diabetes benefits, the CROI analysis reported potential improvements in liver, gut, and cardiovascular health, plus reduced smoking rates in the HIV population on GLP-1 therapy. Real-world analysis of people living with HIV prescribed semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) or tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) documented comparable weight loss to general-population Phase 3 trial data with no new safety signals specific to the HIV population. Approximately 40% of people living with HIV in the US also have obesity, and cardiovascular disease is one of the primary drivers of morbidity and mortality in the HIV-treated population. The CROI analysis supports GLP-1 therapy as a reasonable consideration in HIV patients with obesity or metabolic-syndrome comorbidities, particularly following the AIDS 2026 conference programming that concluded Friday July 31 in Rio de Janeiro emphasizing the sustained management of HIV alongside comorbid conditions in the current global funding-constrained environment. The finding also intersects with the ongoing peptide-adjacent HIV therapeutic landscape covered by the July 2026 Gilead-Merck ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2 once-weekly islatravir/lenacapavir data and the Merck alimatravir monthly HIV prevention pill.
The 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) Day 2 continues Tuesday July 28, 2026 at Riocentro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Key Tuesday programming includes: the World Health Organization (WHO) interactive workshop in Room 101C from 14:30-16:30 BRT on practical approaches to sustaining HIV, tuberculosis (TB), viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) services for key populations through integrated primary health care (particularly timely following the UNAIDS 'United to End AIDS' report Monday documenting 2025 HIV funding cuts); the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) poster sessions Tuesday and Wednesday on the SCOPE, Belong, and RBDCOV research projects; the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) cost-effectiveness presentation on dual HIV/syphilis and triplex HIV/syphilis/HBV rapid diagnostic testing among pregnant women in Kenya and South Africa (15:27-15:35 BRT); and the ViiV Healthcare peer-support-in-HIV-care session from 12:00-13:00 BRT. All abstracts (oral, poster, e-poster, and late-breaker) became available on-demand on Monday July 27 at 14:00 BRT for registered delegates, with on-demand session recordings available 4-12 hours after they take place. The main peptide-adjacent industry late-breaker (Gilead-Merck ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2 detailed data) is scheduled for Wednesday July 29.
The 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) main conference opened Monday July 27, 2026 at Riocentro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The opening ceremony ran 15:00-16:30 local time in the Global Village. UNAIDS released its 'United to End AIDS' 2025 data report on the opening day, documenting the severity of 2025 HIV funding cuts and their impact on HIV prevention, community services, key populations, and the sustainability of the global AIDS response. The WHO launched its first global mid-term assessment of progress under the Global Health Sector Strategies on HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections, marking the halfway point to the 2030 targets and providing a comprehensive overview of where the world stands on the SDG 3.3 targets. Peptide-adjacent HIV modality content this week includes Gilead Sciences's twice-yearly lenacapavir (first-in-class HIV capsid inhibitor) PURPOSE 1 and PURPOSE 2 long-term extension data and the Gilead-Merck once-weekly oral islatravir/lenacapavir Phase 3 ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2 detailed data late-breaker scheduled for Wednesday July 29. Merck plans separate presentations across daily, weekly, and monthly HIV treatment and prevention pipeline including alimatravir (MK-8527), the investigational once-monthly oral HIV prevention pill licensed July 24 to Aspen Pharmacare and six other generic manufacturers for 129 low- and middle-income countries.
The 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) opens Sunday July 26, 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and runs through July 31. Gilead Sciences and Merck's Phase 3 ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2 detailed data on the investigational once-weekly oral HIV treatment regimen islatravir 2 mg / lenacapavir 300 mg (ISL/LEN) is scheduled for the late-breaking session on Wednesday July 29. Topline numbers released July 21 showed 0% of once-weekly ISL/LEN participants had HIV-1 RNA at 50 copies/mL or higher at Week 48 in ISLEND-1 (versus 0.3% of participants who remained on daily Biktarvy). In ISLEND-2, 0.3% of participants receiving weekly ISL/LEN had HIV-1 RNA at 50 copies/mL or higher versus 1.3% on daily standard of care regimens. Safety profile was generally similar to comparator regimens with no new signals identified. Lenacapavir is a first-in-class HIV capsid inhibitor (peptide-adjacent modality); islatravir is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor (NRTTI). The data will support planned regulatory submissions and represents the first once-weekly oral HIV treatment regimen to clear Phase 3 endpoints. Merck also plans to present daily, weekly, and monthly HIV treatment and prevention pipeline updates at AIDS 2026.
The FDA approved a new formulation of tesamorelin, the only approved treatment for HIV-associated excess abdominal fat, representing continued investment in peptide therapeutics for rare conditions.