A Long-Acting Injectable (LAI) is not a keyword. Vectora defines the universe with one defensible rule — and holds the line where others blur it.
What qualifies as a LAI
Every asset in Vectora meets three cumulative criteria. Miss one, and it is out — regardless of how it is marketed.
1Injectable route.IM, SC, slow IV, perineural, intra-articular, intra-tumoral, intravitreal, epidural. Not oral, not transdermal, not solid non-injectable implants.
2A deliberate duration technology.Either a Drug Delivery System (the formulation releases the drug over time) or Half-Life Extension (the molecule is engineered to last). A long native half-life alone does not count.
3Duration that breaks with daily dosing.Significantly longer than the indication's immediate-release standard, with a hard floor of ≥ 48 hours after a single dose.
Where others blur — and Vectora holds the line
Keyword tagging pulls in molecules that are long-acting for the wrong reasons. Vectora excludes them, on purpose:
✕Long-acting by mechanism, not technology.Bisphosphonates, botulinum toxin, native-long-half-life antibodies — the effect comes from the biological target, not a delivery or half-life technology.
✕Daily basal insulins.Lantus, Levemir, Tresiba carry real HLE chemistry — but act under 48h and are injected daily. Out. Only weekly-plus HLE insulins (e.g. insulin icodec) qualify.
✕Pure implants.A device-and-procedure story, not drug delivery. Captured only when they compete alongside a LAI — never as standalone assets.
✕Short or daily injectables.Below the 48-hour floor, however "sustained" the label sounds.
✕Vaccines, cell & gene therapy.Out by editorial scope — unless a DDS/HLE technology carries the payload. The test is always the source of the duration: engineered delivery, not the biology itself.
Calibrated to the clinic, not a blunt cutoff
"Long-acting" means something different in post-operative pain than in schizophrenia. The rule is relative to each indication's standard of care — with the 48-hour floor underneath.