It’s possible that HIV could be prevented by an annual shot — at least, that’s what new data from Gilead suggests. The drug company has been developing a new HIV drug called lenacapavir, which until now has been tested just twice a year. Scientists have been tweaking the drug’s formulation and recently found in a 40-person test that one form led to higher levels of the drug in volunteers’ blood streams, lasting at least 56 weeks.

To be clear, the trial didn’t test the new version of lenacapavir’s efficacy in preventing HIV, Jason Mast writes. But it caused a stir, with one expert saying the data “shatter a glass ceiling.” 

Gilead is still selecting which version of lenacapavir it will develop further. The company plans to begin a Phase 3 trial of the once-a-year version this year. 

end-of-life careA new kind of doulaKatrina Zimmerman for STATClergy often guide people through many of life’s major moments. In a moving video for STAT produced by Hyacinth Empinado, Rev. Beth Stotts talks about a new way she’s helping her congregants: as an end-of-life doula. End-of-life or death doulas provide advanced care planning and other non-medical services to support the dying and their loved ones. For Stotts, that means talking about funeral arrangements, counseling family members, tying up loose ends or goals, and discussing small details about their final moments. Do they want music? Maybe a candle? “I think it’s actually very empowering for individuals to be able to say, ‘I don’t want this or I do want that,’” Stotts said. “You feel less of a victim to the end of your life.”It may be an unfamiliar role today, but end-of-life doulas are becoming more common. The number of certified end-of-life doulas has significantly grown after the pandemic, from about 250 in 2019 to more than 1,500 in 2024.

from AXIOS:

Pint-sized pharmacies

By Tina Reed

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Retail pharmacies are embracing the idea that less is more as they grapple with online competitors, lagging reimbursement, sluggish consumer demand and employee burnout.Driving the news: CVS Health is rolling out roughly a dozen downsized stores, testing the theory that getting back to the basics of dispensing drugs will be more sustainable than selling greeting cards and cosmetics.The big picture: National retail pharmacies are struggling to find a winning business model in an increasingly challenging environment and amid weakening “front of store” sales.CVS Health alone is shedding 270 stores around the country this year.”There is a lot of concern about how CVS is going to navigate its way out of its own challenges,” Peter Bonis, chief medical officer at Wolters Kluwer Health, told Axios.State of play: CVS plans to begin opening 5,000-square-foot stores, which will be about one-half to one-third the size of the current average location. Each will feature a full-service pharmacy with limited over-the-counter products available for purchase, the company said.And each “will be designed to meet the community’s specific pharmacy needs,” officials told Axios in a statement.CVS officials also plans to open 30 additional locations this year, including inside Target stores.This makes sense as a way to optimize for the higher-margin drug business while benefiting from the less expensive leases and smaller staff needed for a smaller store, Bonis said. “It’s about maximizing return on retail square footage,” he said.Yes, but: This raises concerns that CVS, which owns the pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark, will further use its model to steer patients buying high-value drugs including specialty medications to their stores over independent pharmacies, said Douglas Hoey, CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association.It also raises questions about whether CVS may wind up investing in higher-density neighborhoods rather than underserved markets, further expanding pharmacy deserts.”The new pharmacies will be introduced in select neighborhoods to help bridge gaps in care,” CVS said in a statement to Axios.Go deeper