The NHS announced on 17 October 2025 that it would roll out a new long-acting injection to prevent HIV, as part of its ambition to become the first country in the world to end HIV transmissions by 2030.
This new preventative therapy, called cabotegravir, will be available on the NHS for people who cannot take the oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) tablets. Administered every two months, the injection will be provided through sexual health clinics across England.
Around 1,000 patients who are unable to take oral PrEP are expected to benefit from this long-acting injection.
What is PrEP?
PrEP drugs can prevent people who are HIV-negative from acquiring the virus. If a person is exposed to it, the injection works by blocking an enzyme called integrase, which HIV needs to make copies of itself. This stops the virus from multiplying in the body and becoming an established infection.
What have key stakeholders said?
Dr Michael Brady, National Advisor for LGBT + Health at NHS England, said:
“We have made huge progress in HIV treatment and prevention in the last decade, and the addition of injectable PrEP will bring us a step closer to our goal of ending HIV transmissions by 2030″.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP said:
“The approval of this game-changing injection perfectly embodies what this government is determined to deliver – cutting-edge treatments that save lives and leave no one behind. For vulnerable people who are unable to take other methods of HIV prevention, this represents hope
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