New implant could completely reverse HIV treatment

The world's first biodegradable implant containing HIV medications has been tested in rodents and proven effective.

According to N + 1, the implant is inserted subcutaneously in liquid form. Once in the body, it freezes, after which it begins to decompose slowly, releasing the medicine. The implant is enough for at least a year of work - all this time it effectively maintains a constant concentration of antiviral drugs in the blood.

The implant was developed by employees of the University of North Carolina and is based on two compounds - the organic solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and the polymer poly (D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (DLGA), which react with each other, independently forming a solid implant. And the drugs that make up the mixture freeze inside the polymer.

Fourteen antiretroviral drugs were injected into the implantable mixture. Six of them (blockers of viral protease, integrase and reverse transcriptase) were well dissolved enough in MLP to be included in the implant. The implants with these drugs have been successfully tested not only in rodents, but also in cell cultures infected with HIV.

When such implants become available to people - it’s difficult to say so far, but they seem very, very promising.