Pin-Sized PrEP Implant Could Block HIV For Full Year

USA Today reports:

Earlier this week, Merck released the results of a small and early trial showing a prototype of a pin-sized implant could block HIV from infecting individuals for a full year.

Through an upper-arm implant, the same device used to administer certain birth controls, doctors will likely be able to deliver “meaningful doses” of an experimental anti-HIV drug, called islatravir, to patients in the future.

Islatravir is very potent, Dr. George Hanna, vice president of Global Clinical Development at Merck Research Laboratories, told USA TODAY. With it, doctors would likely be able to treat someone who already has HIV or prevent the infection of someone exposed to the virus.