Welcome back to What’s it Worth! Join your host, Dr. Diana Langworthy and returning co-host Dr. Meade Avery (2025 U of MN CoP Grad!!) as we PrEPare our clinical conclusions about a novel antiviral for HIV prevention. We also welcome an HIV expert, Dr. Daniel (Jude) Holt, who is a clinical pharmacist at North Memorial Health in the Infectious Diseases clinic. The study we critique compares twice yearly lenacapavir with daily emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (F/TAF) or emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (F/TDF) in cisgender women for HIV prevention (PrEP).

Key Points

1. HIV prevention is a critical step in the fight to end HIV
2. There are many barriers to compliance with daily oral HIV preventative medications including access and compliance
3. Twice yearly lenacapavir has been proven effective at preventing HIV in men who have sex with men and transgender women, but was yet to be studied in cisgender women
4. A twice yearly regimen can help patients overcome barriers to compliance
5. Will we find out "Where's "Wald"-o in our Stat Stop? ------> Tune in to find out!

References

1. [EPISODE TRIAL] Bekker LG, Das M, Abdool Karim Q, et al. Twice-Yearly Lenacapavir or Daily F/TAF for HIV Prevention in Cisgender Women. NEJM 2024;391(13):1179-1192.

2. Kelley CF, Acevedo-Quinones M, Agwu AL, et al. Twice yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention in men and gender-diverse persons. NEJM 2024;392(13):1261-1276.

3. Bekerman E, Hansen D, Lu B, et al. Long-acting capsid inhibitor effective as PrEP against vaginal SHIV transmission in macaques. In: Proceedings and Abstracts of the 11th IAS Conference on HIV Science, July 18–21, 2021. Virtual: International AIDS Society, 2021. abstract.

4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "HIV Prevention Research Synthesis Project." HIV Compendium of Best Practices. October 24, 2024, June 6, 2025, https://www.cdc.gov/hivpartners/php/hiv-treatment/index.htmlnters for Disease Control and Prevention

Contact Information

Podcast email: whatsitworthpodcast@gmail.com

Expert Guest

Dr. Daniel (Jude) Holt, PharmD, AAHIVP, CSP

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist - Infectious Disease

Specialty Pharmacy Infectious Disease Support

Daniel.Holt@northmemorial.com

Host Information

Dr. Diana R. Langworthy, PharmD, BCPS

Clinical Associate Professor, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy

Clinical Pharmacist - Inpatient Internal Medicine, M Health Fairview East Bank Hospital

Co-Host Information

Meade Avery, PharmD

2025 Graduate, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy