The last leg of the fight against HIV
On 9 June 2021, the United Nations Member States adopted a declaration related to HIV diagnosis, treatment and care. The political declaration called on countries to achieve the 95-95-95 targets by 2025. 95% of people living with HIV should know their HIV status. 95% of people who know their HIV status should be receiving antiretroviral treatment. 95% of people receiving treatment should achieve a suppressed viral load.
As of 2023, of all people living with HIV globally, 86% had a diagnosis. 89% of individuals with a positive diagnosis were receiving treatment. 93% of those on treatment had suppressed viral loads. With sustained progress, the global community can achieve not only the 95-95-95 targets but also the SDG target 3.3 of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030.
We’re in the last leg of the fight against HIV. What we achieved with polio – a massive reduction in the global caseload and even eradication in some countries with immunization campaigns conducted on a war footing – we can achieve in the fight against HIV as well.
We, at PodTech™, are committed to making essential medicines accessible and affordable in every part of the world. Helping the global health community push through to the finish line when it comes to AIDS eradication is an important part of our mission and commitment.
If you’re a pharmaceutical manufacturer committed to making HIV diagnostics, prevention, treatment and care measures easily accessible the world over, read on to know how you can join PodTech™ in this fight.
Eradicating HIV: The way ahead with PodTech™
HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus, is a massive public health concern even today. To date, it has claimed an estimated 42.3 million lives. In 2023 alone, about 630,000 people died from conditions linked to HIV; an estimated 1.3 million people newly acquired HIV; and in total, at the end of the year, about 39.9 million people were living with the condition, 65% of whom are in the WHO African Region. Nevertheless, there is currently no country globally with no transmission.
HIV infection, the most advanced stage of which manifests as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), weakens a person’s immune system by targeting white blood cells. This makes people living with HIV more susceptible to tuberculosis, bacterial and other infections, some cancers, and other diseases.
HIV infections pose a serious public health concern because they are not curable. But they are manageable.
Today, an HIV diagnosis is not the death sentence that it was a few decades ago. With early risk assessment, diagnosis and access to effective preventative, treatment and care interventions, people with HIV can live long, healthy and fulfilling lives.
There are many behaviours and conditions which put people at increased risk of contracting an HIV infection. Having sex without a condom, having another sexually transmitted infection, sharing contaminated needles and unsafe medical procedures all put individuals are greater risk of the infection, which can be transmitted via the exchange of bodily fluids like blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal secretions.
Early diagnosis can enable people to access treatment before they contract serious infections like tuberculosis or cryptococcal meningitis, severe bacterial infections, or cancers like Kaposi’s sarcoma or lymphomas. However, in high-risk contexts, individuals can also access preventative medications to reduce the risk of contracting and transmitting the disease.
Pharmaceutical and medical product manufacturers who want to join the fight against HIV can choose to manufacture multiple products to make a difference. From manufacturing diagnostics and prophylactics to treatments, every effort counts. And every effort is easier, quicker and more cost-effective with PodTech™’s cutting-edge modular factory systems.
HIV diagnostics
Rapid diagnostics: HIV can be diagnosed using rapid diagnostic tests which test for antibodies. Rapid tests give results on the same day. They not only make testing fairly simple but they also improve patient linkages with interventions for treatment and prevention. WHO-prequalified tests are preferred as they offer high levels of accuracy.
Self-tests: Manufacturers can also produce self-tests that individuals can use to test themselves without the help of a health worker. Nonetheless, such tests are not sufficient in and of themselves as confirmatory testing conducted by a qualified health worker is necessary to get a full HIV-positive diagnosis.
Virological testing: While antibody tests are effective in diagnosing HIV in adolescents and adults, babies born to HIV-positive mothers cannot be tested in the same way. Virological testing and new technologies which can test babies at the point of care and deliver same-day results must be deployed at the appropriate time.
HIV prophylactics
PrEP: When antiretroviral drugs are given to individuals before possible exposure to HIV, it is referred to as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). With advice from a clinician, people who have a high risk of contracting HIV can use PrEP to protect themselves from the infection. Long-acting cabotegravir, administered either orally or through intramuscular injections, is a popular antiretroviral used in high-risk areas. Not only does it prevent infection but it also prevents transmission when it successfully suppresses the viral load in infected individuals. Manufacturing such HIV prophylactics and making them widely accessible is an important part of the global strategy to control the transmission of HIV and AIDS.
Dapivirine vaginal rings: Women at high risk of HIV can also use the dapivirine vaginal ring (DPV-VR) as part of a combination approach to prophylaxis, complementing the use of oral PrEP. Evidence shows that using the WHO-recommended DPV-VR reduced HIV infection risk in women and was well-tolerated over long-term use. Making affordable and accessible DPV-VR is an important step towards not only HIV prevention but also giving women more autonomy over their bodies.
HIV treatment
ART: While there is no cure for an HIV infection, antiretroviral therapy (ART) stops the virus from replicating in the body. This allows people with HIV to live long, healthy and symptom-free lives. If ART drugs result in an undetectable viral load in a person, they also prevent the transmission of the virus to sexual partners. In pregnant women with HIV, ART drugs also help prevent the transmission of the infection to the foetus during pregnancy, delivery or through breast milk.
Antiretroviral therapies are the single most important intervention in enabling people with HIV to live long, healthy lives. However, at present, persons living with HIV must take ART drugs every day for the rest of their lives. This means that we need to make these drugs accessible and affordable to people all over the world, with a particular focus on Africa, which bears 65% of the global HIV burden.
Why PodTech™?
At PodTech™, our standard podules™ are tailored not only for drug manufacturing but also for diagnostics, inoculation, and other health product manufacturing. This means that in a small fraction of the time it takes to set up a traditional factory, you can use our podules™ to manufacture HIV rapid diagnostics, antiretrovirals like cabotegravir, and dapivirine vaginal rings.
Research in HIV and opportunistic infection management is advancing, with new HIV medicines and short-course treatments for opportunistic infections like cryptococcal meningitis being developed. In the coming years, such innovations could change the way people take medicines to prevent HIV or manage the HIV viral load. From longer-acting drugs to injectable formulations and combination treatments, the future of HIV management may look very different from the present.
With a modular prefabricated factory set up by PodTech™, you won’t have to worry about investing in new infrastructure when these innovations become commercially available. Given the modular nature of our factory systems, they boast high levels of scalability and adaptability. This means that you could have a production line for a new treatment up and running in no time at all.
As we step into the last leg of the journey to end HIV, we have no time to lose if we want to meet global targets for 2025 and 2030. At PodTech™, we’re committed to deploying our cutting-edge technology in service of SDG target 3.3. Join us in the fight.