Dec 22, 2020 7:59am The European approval for ViiV Healthcare's HIV treatment Vocabria comes nine months after Health Canada became the first regulator to clear the drug. (artJazz/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)(Photo by artJazz/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images) ViiV Healthcare has won approval for its long-acting injectable HIV treatment Vocabria in Europe. The authorization clears ViiV to sell a drug that could reduce the number of doses patients need to take a year from 365 to six. Combinations of oral antiretrovirals, such as ViiV’s own Combivir and Trizivir, form the backbones of treatment regimens that suppress HIV. However, compliance to daily regimens is imperfect, raising the risk levels of the virus will rise. ViiV also identified the fact daily doses constantly remind people of their infection and create fear of the inadvertent disclosure of HIV status as downsides to current regimens.