Long-Acting Cabotegravir Well Tolerated in Pregnant Women

THURSDAY, Aug. 8, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) appears to be well tolerated in pregnant women, according to a study presented at AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, held from July 22 to 26 in Munich.

Sinead Delany-Moretlwe, M.B.B.Ch., Ph.D., from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, and colleagues reported on maternal safety and pregnancy outcomes among 2,472 participants in the HPTN 084 open-label extension. Pregnancies were categorized by exposure to CAB-LA injections during pregnancy, CAB-LA injections before pregnancy only, and no CAB-LA exposure (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine [TDF/FTC] group).

The researchers identified 351 confirmed incident pregnancies in 334 participants during 3,118 person-years (incidence, 11.3/100 person-years). The median time from last injection to pregnancy detection was eight and 13 weeks among participants with CAB-LA use during or prior to pregnancy, respectively. Participants with CAB-LA use during pregnancy received a median of four injections. No maternal deaths were reported. The incidence of pregnancy-related maternal adverse events was 43.7, 52.9, and 40.0 per 100 person-years among those using CAB-LA during pregnancy, those using prior to pregnancy, or those without CAB-LA exposure, respectively. Across groups, poor pregnancy outcome rates were similar, with negative outcomes reported in 28, 35, and 26 percent of pregnancies with CAB-LA use during pregnancy, prior to pregnancy, or without CAB-LA exposure, respectively. There was one major congenital anomaly (in the group receiving CAB-LA during pregnancy).

"We hope that these findings can fill an important knowledge gap that can help increase access to this highly effective HIV preexposure prophylaxis option among cisgender women before, during, and after pregnancy," Delany-Moretlwe said in statement.

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