FRIDAY, Oct. 16, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Among patients with HIV who received long-acting lenacapavir (LEN)/cabotegravir (CAB), those with baseline viral suppression (VS) maintained VS and those without achieved VS by 13 weeks, according to a research letter published online Oct. 8 in JAMA Network Open.
Nathanael L. Gistand, from the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues evaluated outcomes among patients with prior adherence challenges, treatment experience, and resistance initiating LEN/CAB in a retrospective case series. The analyses included 46 participants who initiated long-acting LEN/CAB.
Overall, 71.7 percent of patients had baseline non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor resistance, and 8.7 percent had integrase strand transfer inhibitor resistance. The researchers found that 47.8 percent of patients were suppressed at LEN initiation, 52.2 percent were viremic, and 37.0 percent had rilpivirine included in the regimen. Among the 24 patients with viremia prior to LEN initiation, 58.3 percent had a CD4+ count of 200 cells/mm3 or fewer. Patients with VS at baseline maintained VS, while those without achieved VS by 13 weeks. Follow-up was extended to a median of 100 weeks from first LEN injection to assess durability of VS; all patients achieved and maintained VS, with no consecutive viral load greater than 200 copies/mL.
"High VS was achieved regardless of baseline viremia and sustained over a median time of 100 weeks, with no consecutive viral loads greater than 200 copies/mL," the authors write. "This study represents the largest case series of long-acting LEN/CAB and adds to the growing evidence supporting its use for patients with adherence challenges and resistance."
