A randomised trial presented on Tuesday at the 13th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2025) showed that switching from medications thought to cause weight gain did not lead to significantly greater weight reduction compared to staying on existing treatment, even when one of the replacement drugs has been shown to suppress weight gain. The study was designed to investigate the effects of swapping drugs associated with weight gain for ones that have not been associated with weight gain.

An investigational once-monthly pill holds promise for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), according to mid-stage study results presented yesterday at the 13th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2025). With favourable pharmacokinetics and a good safety profile, Merck said MK-8527 will soon move into phase III trials.

HIV funding crisis the focus of IAS 2025

Killer T-cells (CD8 cells or cytotoxic T-lymphocytes) engineered to mount a rare and specific reaction to HIV-infected cells that was first seen in an experimental vaccine more than a decade ago were able to halve the number of cells containing intact viral DNA, the 13th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2025) in Kigali heard yesterday. “We’re very excited about our findings,” Professor J. Victor Garcia of the University of Birmingham, Alabama told the conference.

As doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP) for prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) enters widespread use, questions remain about its implementation in the real world. At a symposium yesterday at the 13th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2025), experts discussed outstanding challenges, including increasing antibiotic resistance.