US advisory panel recommends Truvada drug be marketed for HIV prevention

An FDA panel in the US has approved the administration of the drug Truvada to at-risk but uninfected people in an effort to prevent the spread of HIV, though experts warn condoms must remain the ‘bedrock’ of such efforts.

The technique for which the drug would be marketed, known as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis or PrEP, uses antiretroviral drugs to decrease the likelihood of HIV infection in people who come into contact with the virus.

The FDA’s Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee voted 19 to 3 in favour of allowing doctors to prescribe Truvada for this purpose to men who have sex with multiple male partners.

The committee also voted for it to be prescribed to the partners of HIV-positive people and other groups after a day of public comment and debate. The Food and Drug Administration usually adopts the decisions made by its panels of experts.

Truvada, a mixture of tenofovir and emtricitabine, can currently be administered to people living with HIV and used for prevention, but if the FDA adopts the recommendation, it could be marketed as a preventative measure.

The use of the drug in prevention efforts has prompted debate over whether at-risk people would consistently take a daily pill and if it could produce a drug-resistant strain of HIV.

The Washington Post said the senior vice president of the Gilead drugs company, which manufactures Truvada, told the committee it should be added to the “existing toolbox” of prevention efforts.  Read More