Research Roundup: Wiping out mosquitoes on two Chinese islands, betting on biometrics to boost vaccination rates, and J&J to test HIV vaccine in US and Europe

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign-up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. The World Health Organization (WHO) has changed its guidelines to strongly recommend the antiretroviral medication dolutegravir (DTG) as the preferred first- and second-line treatment for all people living with HIV, including pregnant women. Last year, many countries advised pregnant women, or those who might become pregnant, to take efavirenz (EFV) instead of DTG after a study in Botswana found a possible link between DTG and serious birth defects in newborns. Presenting new research from the ongoing study at the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science, WHO stated that the potential risk for birth defects was significantly lower than previously estimated, with benefits for women outweighing drawbacks. Preliminary testing of an implant containing a new antiretroviral drug, islatravir, in a dozen patients over 12 weeks suggests that it may protect against HIV infection for a full year. The implant, a matchstick-sized plastic rod inserted just under the skin of the upper arm, slowly releases tiny doses of islatravir, which lingers in the body for a relatively long time so it can be given less than other medications. Unlike some other HIV drugs, islatravir is absorbed into the anal and genital tissues where most infections start and is less likely to give rise to drug-resistant strains since it attacks a different stage in the infection process. The implant could help those at risk of HIV infection, particularly women in Africa, who are looking for prevention methods that are easier to use and conceal. Large clinical testing is required to determine the safety and efficacy of this implant in protecting against HIV infection. Malaria drugs are failing at an alarming rate in Southeast Asia as drug-resistant strains of the disease emerge, according to two new reports released in The Lancet—prompting global concern that this drug resistance could spread around the world. One of the studies, performed in the greater Mekong region, compared a new three-drug malaria regimen against the conventional two-drug artemisinin combo—used to treat the majority of malaria cases—when researchers noticed the antimalarial drugs in the current regimen weren’t fully wiping out the deadly parasites. The overall failure rate was 50 percent, but in some parts of the region the drugs weren’t working nine times out of ten. If drug resistance to first-line malaria drugs continues to spread, it could mean major setbacks to the global effort to control the mosquito-borne disease.

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign-up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email.Last Wednesday, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced its two-drug HIV regimen, Dovato, was successful in suppressing the virus in patients over a 48-week period at the same level of a previous three-drug treatment in a late-stage trial. The study evaluated the effectiveness of Dovato in adults with HIV-1 virus, the most widespread strain, who switched to the regimen from at least a triple combination containing Gilead’s Vemlidy. GSK’s HIV drugs division, ViiV, noted that adults who used Dovato did not develop any resistance to the treatment. Dovato, a combination of dolutegravir and lamivudine, was approved in the United States in April for newly diagnosed patients. GSK already has a two-drug regimen, Juluca, on the market but only for HIV patients that have received prior treatment.Two experimental Ebola drugs, an antiviral called remdesivir and an antibody treatment called ZMapp, have been found to be effective in laboratory studies in treating the strain of the virus responsible for the deaths of more than 1,600 people in the current outbreak affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to this new research performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in laboratory studies both drugs inhibited the growth of the virus strain in human cells. These two treatments were developed based on strains from previous outbreaks, and this study was the first to test them on the strain causing the current outbreak, which researchers are calling the Ituri strain. According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ebola outbreak in DRC has killed 1,630 people with 2,418 total cases—making it the second biggest outbreak of the disease in history.On July 9, WHO published updates to two lists critical for global health: the twenty-first WHO Model List of Essential Medicines and the second WHO Model List of Essential Diagnostics (EDL). These lists help countries prioritize critical health products that should be available, accessible, and affordable in a health system. While the first EDL, developed in 2018, covered a limited number of priority diseases, the second list has expanded to include more noncommunicable and communicable diseases, consisting of 122 test categories. In this editorial piece, Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada Research Chair of Epidemiology & Global Health at McGill University, explains what’s included in the EDL, what follow up is required by low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) to make the list work, and the LMIC investment required to develop the diagnostic tests and laboratories necessary to deliver on universal health coverage and to better detect outbreaks, antimicrobial resistance, and pandemics.