The TAIL-PrEP Study

May 26, 2026 updated by: Kathrine Meyers, Columbia University

The TAIL-PrEP Study: Acceptability and Feasibility of a Tailored Adherence Intervention for Safe Discontinuation of Long-acting PrEP

The goal of the TAIL-PrEP study is to understand how to support the safe discontinuation of injectable long-acting cabotegravir (cab-LA) and lenacapavir (LEN) while maximizing the public health impact of biomedical HIV prevention interventions. In Aim 1, the study will pilot test and assess the acceptability and feasibility of the TAIL-PrEP intervention: for participants discontinuing cab-LA, this will consist of monthly cabotegravir drug level monitoring to provide personalized HIV prevention coaching, for participants considering discontinuing cab-LA or LEN, this will consist of a one-time personalized HIV prevention coaching session. In Aim 2, the study will refine the TAIL-PrEP intervention and implementation strategy based on findings from the pilot study.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Oral PrEP is highly effective but underutilized, with only 25% of individuals eligible for PrEP in the US having a prescription. Recent approval of cabotegravir-LA (cab-LA), a long-acting injectable integrase inhibitor and the first long-acting injectable PrEP, and lenacapavir (LEN), a long-acting class capsid inhibitor presents an opportunity to increase uptake. However, the long and variable half-life of cab-LA across different individuals after discontinuation (called the "tail") poses an implementation challenge. During the tail, cabotegravir levels are sub-therapeutic but could select for integrase-inhibitor resistance if the patient were to acquire HIV. This concern about the tail presents a barrier to providers prescribing cab-LA, potentially limiting the contribution of cab-LA to achieving End the HIV Epidemic targets and PrEP uptake and HIV infection. Currently, to mitigate this risk, individuals are advised to use oral PrEP for up to and beyond 12 months after stopping cab-LA injections if they have an ongoing risk of becoming infected with HIV. However, a risk mitigation strategy that requires daily oral PrEP may not be feasible or acceptable to many patients who started injectable PrEP precisely because they were unable or unwilling to adhere to a daily medication. LEN does not pose the same issue with a drug tail during discontinuation, but patients discontinuing LEN may need guidance on how to switch to other HIV prevention strategies rather than discontinuing HIV prevention altogether. In Aim 1, the study will pilot test and assess the acceptability and feasibility of the TAIL-PrEP intervention: for participants discontinuing cab-LA, this will consist of monthly cabotegravir drug level monitoring to provide personalized HIV prevention coaching, for participants considering discontinuing cab-LA or LEN, this will consist of a one-time personalized HIV prevention coaching session. In Aim 2, the study will refine the TAIL-PrEP intervention and implementation strategy based on findings from the pilot study.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10032
        • Recruiting
        • Columbia University Irving Medical Center / NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion criteria:

  • At least 18 years of age
  • HIV-negative (self-report)
  • Able to speak and read in English
  • Have access to an internet-connected device capable of running the online video conferencing platform
  • Have a private location at which to take online conference calls

Participants considering discontinuing cab-LA or LEN have the following additional inclusion criteria:

- Considering discontinuing cab-LA or LEN

Participants discontinuing cab-LA have the following additional inclusion criteria:

  • Have discontinued cab-LA injections within the last three months
  • Not currently on cab-LA injections
  • Able to receive and send monthly packages
  • The study period will end for patient participants once the monthly blood draw result indicates that cab-LA levels are not detectable (estimated average of 6 months across all patients) or after 6 months of the study, whichever comes first. If at 6 months of study participation, cab-LA levels are still detectable and participants adhered to at least 50% of study activities (self-collecting and mailing monthly blood samples, completing monthly surveys, attending monthly coaching sessions), participants will be invited to participate in the study for an additional 6 months, for a total of up to 12 study visits.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Discontinued cab-LA
Patients who recently discontinued cab-LA who receive the TAIL-PrEP intervention for patients who discontinued cab-LA
Behavioral: TAIL-PrEP for patients discontinuing cab-LA
The TAIL-PrEP intervention is comprised of two components: (1) monthly cab-LA monitoring with specimens self-collected by patient and mailed to a lab for processing; and (2) monthly HIV prevention coaching with personalized cab-LA feedback.
Experimental: Considering discontinuing cab-LA
Patients who are considering discontinuing cab-LA who receive the TAIL-PrEP intervention for patients considering discontinuing cab-LA
Behavioral: TAIL-PrEP for patients considering discontinuing cab-LA
The TAIL-PrEP intervention is comprised of a one-time HIV prevention coaching session to guide patients considering discontinuing cab-LA on their HIV prevention options.
Experimental: Considering discontinuing LEN
Patients who are considering discontinuing LEN who receive the TAIL-PrEP intervention for patients considering discontinuing LEN
Behavioral: TAIL-PrEP for patients considering discontinuing LEN
The TAIL-PrEP intervention is comprised of a one-time HIV prevention coaching session to guide patients considering discontinuing LEN on their HIV prevention options.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Acceptability among Patients
Time Frame: 6 months
Acceptability of the intervention will be assessed using the validated Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM). AIM is a 4-item scale where respondents rate each item using a 5-point ordinal scale that ranges from 1="completely disagree" to 5="completely agree". The AIM is scored by averaging responses across the 4 items. A higher average score indicates greater acceptability, which is a better outcome.
6 months
Feasibility among Patients
Time Frame: 6 months
Feasibility of the intervention will be assessed using the validated Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM). FIM is a 4-item scale where respondents rate each item using a 5-point ordinal scale that ranges from 1="completely disagree" to 5="completely agree". The FIM is scored by averaging responses across the 4 items. A higher average score indicates greater feasibility, which is a better outcome.
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Adherence to TAIL-PrEP intervention
Time Frame: 6 months
Adherence to the intervention will be assessed by calculating the proportion of intervention components completed out of components possible.
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Columbia University

Collaborators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kathrine A Meyers, DrPH, Columbia University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 6, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 6, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 11, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 28, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 26, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • AAAU7044
  • 1R21MH133755-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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