Women (still) Don ’t Get AIDS, They Just Die From It

In recent years HIV prevention science has been revolutionized by the realization that some of the drugs originally approved to treat HIV infection are also very effective at preventing HIV infection in people considered at high risk, such as those with HIV-positive partners. Known as “pre-exposure prophylaxis” or “PreP”, the HIV medication Truvada (tenofivir plus an older antiviral called emtricitabine) is now taken on a daily basis by millions of people worldwide in order to prevent HIV infection. While optimists see PreP as an important step on the road to “ending AIDS”, critics note that the drug’s $20,000-a-year price tag impedes adequate access both within the U.S. and globally.  On October 3, the politics of PreP became even more fraught when the FDA granted approval to a second HIV drug to be used preventatively – but only by men. “Descovy” is made by Gilead Sciences—the same pharmaceutical company that makes Truvada—and in fact differs from Truvada only slightly in its chemical structure. For reasons that Gilead has failed to make clear, the clinical trial of Descovy was conducted almost exclusively in men (transgender women made up about 1% of the 5400 person cohort). For this reason, the FDA refused to approve its use in “those who have receptive vaginal sex.” The case of Descovy is ripe with some of the same ethical issues that have plagued HIV drug development since the epide...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs