Day 1 overview and highlights

What a fascinating and informative first day on a beautiful, if a little bit cold Autumn Glasgow day!

In one of the early sessions, Ian McGowan of University of Pittsburgh discussed innovations in long acting ARV's for both HIV treatment and HIV prevention (PrEP).

Phase 2 studies for intramuscular injections and implantable devices look promising and are now moving into phase 3.

The combination of two long-acting injectable antiretrovirals, cabotegravir and rilpivirine given once every 4 or 8 weeks;

. were generally well tolerated treatment regimens

. maintained viral suppression  in HIV positive patients 

. prevented HIV in negative patients. 

. had high patient satisfaction levels

Sally Jewsbury of Manchester NHS foundation trust followed with a complex and difficult case study presentation involving a female Zimbabwean patient with multiple co-morbidities that ultimately had a happy ending due to her and her teams dedication and perseverance. I had the pleasure of meeting Sally personally during lunch. 

A moving tribute was made to Joep Lange and Jacqueline Van Tongeren followed by an inspirational presentation by Anthony Fauci from US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. His focus was on implementing proven scientific tools to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic, highlighting the great advances made since the first  HIV notifications in 1981.