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Long-acting injectable treatment better than daily tablets for young people living with HIV

29 Jul 2026

Young people living with HIV do better when their antiretroviral therapy is given by injections every 8 weeks, rather than daily tablets, according to the results of the LATA trial which were presented at the World AIDS Conference today.

LATA compared long-acting injectable cabotegravir and rilpivirine (CAB+RPV), given once every eight weeks, compared to daily TLD (tenofovir disoproxil, lamivudine and dolutegravir) tablets in young people living with HIV aged 12-19 years. TLD tablets are the current recommended treatment used in many countries around the world.

LATA found that long-acting injectable cabotegravir and rilpivirine is better than daily TLD tablets at keeping HIV suppressed. Only two participants (1%) in the long-acting injectable arm experienced viral rebound by week 96, compared to 15 (6%) in the daily TLD tablets group.

Long-acting injectable cabotegravir and rilpivirine are a highly effective and acceptable treatment option for young people living with HIV. Providing long-acting injectable cabotegravir and rilpivirine to young people living with HIV could help reduce the disparity in outcomes that exists for young people versus adults living with HIV, addressing the challenges this group face with daily oral ART.

While the number of serious side-effects were similar in both groups, most people in the long-acting injectable arm had at least one injection site reaction (mostly pain), but these were nearly all minor and resolved within a few days.

LATA took place in Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa took part in LATA. 476 young people with an average age of 16.5 years joined the trial. They were split into two groups:

  • People in the long-acting injectable group were given two injections every 8 weeks into the upper part of the buttocks
  • People in the control group continued to take their TLD tablets every day

Participants were followed up for at least 96 weeks (about two years). People could only take part in the trial if they had been on treatment for more than a year, their HIV was suppressed (undetectable), and they had not previously experienced treatment failure.

Around 1.5 million people aged 10-19 years old are living with HIV globally. Most (~90%) of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. Young people living with HIV often have worse treatment outcomes than adults. This includes poorer HIV control, higher mortality, higher loss to follow-up, and problems with taking treatment every day.

Taking daily tablets may be particularly challenging for young people. Alternative treatment strategies to daily tablets have the potential to make treatment easier, and improve outcomes. Nearly all (94%) people in the long-acting injectables group said the 8-weekly injections were a lot easier than taking medicines daily.

LATA is part of the EDCTP2 Programme (grant code: RIA2017MC-2005) supported by the European Union, and Janssen-Cilag Ltd. ViiV Healthcare and Janssen-Cilag provided trial drugs. The LATA trial was coordinated by the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL (now known as the Innovative Clinical Trials Unit). The Sponsor was UCL. It was run at five sites in four countries in Sub-Saharan Africa:

  • Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation, Uganda
  • Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC), Uganda
  • University of Zimbabwe Clinical Research Centre (UZCRC), Zimbabwe
  • Moi University Clinical Research Centre, Kenya
  • Durban International Clinical Research Site - Enhancing Care Foundation, South Africa

The social science sub-study was led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Penta coordinated youth involvement through the Youth Trial Boards. Health economics work was led by the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York.

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