Ask AI
Back Back
Themes From IAS 2025
Themes From IAS 2025: Emerging Evidence, Innovations, and Global Challenges

Released: July 11, 2025

Expiration: January 10, 2026

Kenneth Ngure
Kenneth Ngure, MPH, MSc, PhD
Activity Information

Activity

Progress
1
Course Completed
Key Takeaways
  • Several studies will highlight the immediate and long-term consequences of HIV funding cuts and the major threats this poses to the global HIV response.
  • Promising advances in long-acting HIV prevention and treatment provide encouragement, including novel PrEP options and long-acting antiretroviral therapy for people with HIV viremia.
  • Artificial intelligence may be a useful tool to strengthen the HIV response, provided it is developed with a participatory, community-led approach.  

IAS 2025
The 13th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Science will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, and online from July 13-17 this year. Held biennially, the conference presents the latest advancements in HIV research and innovation, turning scientific progress into actionable policies and practices. With an inclusive and wide-ranging program, it sets the standard for excellence in HIV science by featuring pioneering studies from across the globe. This year, IAS 2025 will also examine the ongoing political and financial challenges affecting the global HIV response, especially their impact on Africa and other regions disproportionately affected by HIV.

Here is my take on some of the latest program reports and science that will be presented.

Consequences of Reduced Funding
At IAS 2025, several studies will be presented to shed light on both the immediate and long-term consequences of funding cuts being made to HIV programs around the world. These include analyses of how vulnerable populations have already been affected and projections of the continued impact on HIV care and prevention if financial disruptions persist. Attendees will be shown compelling new evidence of how abrupt funding withdrawals are threatening decades of progress in the global HIV response, including:

  • Real-time data from Mozambique, illustrating how funding cuts have disrupted HIV services and could influence increases in HIV incidence and related deaths through 2030 (abstract) 
  • A modeling study predicting the effects of diminished funding on HIV incidence and mortality in West Africa, along with assessments of how reduced access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) might influence HIV infection rates across Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa (abstract) 
  • Reports from organizations in 13 Latin American countries detailing the effects of funding cuts on their HIV response efforts (abstract)

HIV Prevention
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of HIV funding, other areas of research provide a more hopeful perspective. To this end, IAS 2025 will feature advances in long-acting (LA) injectable HIV options.

These abstracts include a study on the potential for a new LA oral PrEP option, MK-8527, a once-monthly pill for prevention (abstract OAS0106LB). This phase II double-blind, multicenter study will assess efficacy and safety of MK-8527 vs placebo in adults with a low risk of HIV exposure. If positive, these findings may help move this drug forward to phase III trials, bringing us one step closer to an LA oral PrEP option. 

Following the recent FDA approval of injectable lenacapavir (LEN) for HIV prevention in the United States, I look forward to encouraging data and new insights from additional studies on LEN at IAS, including an indirect treatment comparison of the efficacy of cabotegravir (CAB) and LEN for PrEP vs no PrEP (abstract EPLB005), and a modeling study on the potential impact of LA LEN among adolescent girls and young women in Kenya (abstract OAC0406LB). I also look forward to hearing an update from the phase III PURPOSE 1 and PURPOSE 2 trials on LEN for adolescents and young people (abstract OAC0503). 

In addition, I am also anticipating new data from the first real-world implementation of LA CAB for HIV prevention among adolescent girls and young women in Zambia (abstract LB48).

Finally, the ultimate goal for HIV prevention is an HIV vaccine. Advances in HIV vaccine research will be showcased in Plenary Session 3, Getting to Grips with Prevention, and in other sessions, including OAA03, Advances in HIV Vaccine Platforms.

HIV Treatment
Furthermore, advances in HIV treatment, especially in LA antiretroviral therapy (ART), will be featured in Plenary 1, Better Meeting the Needs of People Living With HIV, and several other sessions. Although most of studies of LA ART have focused on individuals with virally suppressed HIV, session OAB01 will feature studies of LA ART for people with HIV viremia at treatment initiation, such as a phase IIb study with ulonivirine plus islatravir and a real-world study of LA CAB plus rilpivirine. Promising results from these studies could be instrumental for expanding LA ART access to people with virologic failure or adherence challenges.

Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Technologies  
I think it is also important to acknowledge the potential of using artificial intelligence (AI) in HIV care. Sessions at IAS 2025 will explore the role of AI in strengthening the HIV response and broader health systems, while also examining the challenges and opportunities involved in moving AI tools from development to real-world utilization and impact. Presentations will feature research emphasizing the value of participatory, community-led, codesign approaches in creating AI tools that are credible, inclusive, and user-friendly for HIV prevention. In addition, real-time findings will be shared from a clinician-monitored, AI-driven toolkit aimed at closing prevention gaps among adolescent girls and young women in South Africa.

New Guidelines
Finally, a satellite session at IAS will present new World Health Organization guidelines on prevention, testing, and treatment, including guideline updates for innovative technologies like LA injectable LEN for HIV prevention. This session explores how these updates could shape the public health response to HIV going forward and considers the potential implications for governmental policies and clinical practice.

Your Thoughts
What topics or abstracts are you most excited to hear more about at IAS 2025? Let us know in the comments and join us for our live conference coverage webinar of IAS 2025 or visit our website for more!