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Depressors Pill News

The rise of long-acting injectable drugs: Changing the way we manage chronic disease

News
Jul 28, 2025
Blog, Maxor

Exploring the benefits and challenges of LAIs in modern medicine

Overview

In the ever-evolving world of healthcare, long-acting injectable drugs (commonly known as LAIs) are making significant waves. These medicines, administered through injections, are designed to release their active ingredients slowly and steadily into the bloodstream over days or even weeks. LAIs are already transforming the way we treat mental health disorders and a variety of other chronic conditions.

For many people, especially those living with mental illness, taking daily pills can be a real challenge. Missed doses can easily add up, leading to less effective treatment and, in some cases, worsening health outcomes. LAIs offer a valuable solution: by maintaining consistent levels of medication in the body, they make it easier for individuals to stick with their treatment plans and improve overall health.

What makes LAIs stand out?

One of the biggest advantages of LAIs is convenience. Instead of remembering to take a pill every day, patients can receive an injection every few weeks or months. This not only simplifies their routine but also reduces the risk of missing doses. Additionally, LAIs help healthcare providers quickly identify when someone is not adhering to their treatment, since missed appointments for injections are more noticeable than missed pills.

Other benefits include:

  • Improved medication adherence
  • Reduced health risks from treatment gaps
  • Lower chance of accidental overdose
  • Potentially fewer relapses and hospitalizations
  • Even a decrease in mortality rates for certain conditions

However, LAIs are not without their challenges. Some people are uncomfortable with needles or may experience irritation at the injection site. Others worry about side effects, the cost of treatment, and whether their insurance will cover these medications.

Mental health

LAIs are used to treat some forms of mental illness, including schizophrenia. This illness is chronic and best managed with maintenance treatment. Symptoms of psychosis can be treated with antipsychotic medicines, including in LAI form. Currently, there are several LAIs to treat schizophrenia:

  • Aripiprazole ER, intramuscular (IM)
  • Aripiprazole lauroxil (pro-drug of aripiprazole) IM
  • Fluphenazine decanoate, IM or subcutaneous 
  • Haloperidol decanoate, IM
  • Olanzapine pamoate, IM
  • Paliperidone palmitate, IM
  • Risperidone, microspheres, IM

LAIs for schizophrenia can be given at longer intervals. This can be helpful for patients who relapse or who are non-adherent, and can also be useful for those who have had multiple episodes or those with mild symptoms.

A recent study showed that use of LAIs for treatment of schizophrenia in young adults has decreased relapses, use of healthcare resources, and cost. Another recent study showed that their use lowered both hospital admissions and hospital bed occupancy.

LAIs can also be used to treat bipolar disorder. Some LAIs for bipolar include:

  • Ariprazole.
  • Ariprazole lauroxil.
  • Olanzapine pamoate.

Treatment with LAIs has been associated with fewer hospitalizations and fewer emergency room visits.

HIV

There are also LAIs for the treatment and prevention of HIV. These can be for people who are non-compliant, who have problems swallowing pills, or who want a longer acting medicine. Current LAIs to treat HIV are:

  • Cabotegravir with rilpivirine (two injections either every four or eight weeks)
  • Lenacapavir (two injections every six months)

In June 2025, Yeztugo®, an injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor administered twice a year, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV in adults and adolescents. There is also an LAI for pre-exposure prophylaxis, which was approved in 2021, and which is given every eight weeks.

There are some advantages in treating HIV with LAIs, including reduction in frequency of dosing and greater potential for discreet treatment for patients.

Birth control

An injectable contraceptive for women has been on the market for over 30 years. Known more by its brand name, Depo Provera is depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DPMA), a progestin. It needs to be administered once every three months. Its use over the last 20 years has decreased as more birth control options have become available.

Substance abuse disorders (SUDs)

In 2023, the FDA approved a buprenorphine injection to treat moderate to severe opioid use disorder (OUD). There are two formulations available, and it can be used both weekly and monthly. This drug is an opiate partial agonist and aims to prevent withdrawal symptoms from opioids. Buprenorphine can lessen the cravings associated with opioid withdrawal and improve overall quality of life.

Naltrexone is also approved to treat OUD and alcohol use disorder. It can be administered once a month and lessens and suppresses opioid cravings.

LAIs for SUDs help to address high relapse rates and lack of medication compliance. They also lower the risk of missed doses and lower the stigma related to daily clinic visits.

Diabetes

There are a number of drugs to treat diabetes, including several injectable ones. Insulin can be taken through a syringe or insulin pen. Some examples are:

  • Lantus®, a long-acting insulin.
  • Novolin® N, an intermediate-acting insulin.
  • Apidra®, a rapid-acting insulin analog.
  • Lyumjev® U-200, a concentrated insulin.

With long-acting insulin, people with diabetes can maintain normal levels of blood sugar all day. The effects of rapid-acting insulin last for about three to five hours and of intermediate-acting insulin for about 12 to 16 hours.

GLP-1 and dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists are now on the market, too, to treat diabetes. The injection schedule for these drugs can vary from twice a day to once a week. Some well-known brand-name ones include Ozempic®, Trulicity®, and Zepbound®.

GLP-1s lower blood sugar levels only when those levels are high. They also reduce the risk of hypoglycemia, which can make them a safer choice for some people with diabetes.

Pain management

Injections of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, and other drugs can also be used to manage pain and reduce inflammation. Pain relief can last for weeks to months.

They can be used for conditions like:

  • Sciatica.
  • Back pain.
  • Nerve pain.
  • Arthritis.
  • Joint pain.

LAIs can often lessen fluctuations in pain, which makes them a more manageable way to handle pain. They also usually require fewer doses, so medication compliance often goes up.

Other medical conditions

There is growing interest in using LAIs to treat other conditions. Currently there are LAIs to treat:

  • Migraines.
  • Some types of systemic lupus erythematosus.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Crohn’s disease.
  • Multiple sclerosis.
  • Osteoporosis.

Recent approvals

In May 2025, the first and only dihydroergotamine autoinjector for the acute treatment of migraine was approved by the FDA.

In June 2025, a once-monthly self-injected drug for hereditary angioedema (for prophylactic purposes) was approved by the FDA. It is the only once-monthly dosing available to patients from the start.

LAIs are increasingly being used across medical conditions because of their potential to improve adherence and lead to positive health outcomes. Because treatment routines are simplified and less complicated, the use of LAIs can lead to better overall mental health and well-being for their users. There are advantages to LAIs, but there are also drawbacks, like cost. The use of LAIs continues to expand, and the future is promising for greater use and broader application across diseases.

Further reading

References

Learn more

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