'Game changer' HIV drug cuts infection risk by 86%
Conclusion
The results of this unpublished study were presented at a conference in Seattle and have been reported by the Medical Research Council, who helped fund it. As it has not been published, some important details are not yet known, such as:
The researchers report that there was "high adherence" to taking the medication, but it is not known how regularly it was taken, or how many people stopped taking it and why.
No details have been provided about any side effects experienced on the medication.
The incidence of STIs was used to determine whether taking Truvada changed sexual risk-taking beha...
Source: NHS News Feed - February 25, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Medication Source Type: news
Healthy gay men should be given HIV treatment to PREVENT infection
The Proud study, conducted in England, shows pre-exposure of the HIV drug Truvada can reduce the risk of infection in men who have sex with men by as much as 86 per cent. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - February 24, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Daily pill Truvada cuts spread of HIV by 86%, study shows
Study looking at transmission among men who have sex with men recruited 545 participants at high risk of contracting HIV A daily pill can effectively protect gay men against infection with HIV, a UK trial has shown, which experts say now offers hope of reversing the virus’s spread.Taking the drug, called Truvada, could become a daily routine for men who have sex with men in the same way that the contraceptive pill is for women, some believe. NHS England will now study the results to determine whether it is cost effective to provide it for men at risk of infection. Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - February 24, 2015 Category: Science Authors: Sarah Boseley Tags: Aids and HIV Health Health policy NHS Society Source Type: news
Final results of the HIV prevention study VOICE are published in NEJM
(Microbicide Trials Network) Researchers who conducted the VOICE study involving more than 5,000 women in Africa detail in the NEJM how none of the products (tenofovir, Truvada and tenofovir vaginal gel) was effective in preventing HIV and the extent that women did not use them. Tests of blood indicate nonuse began early; many women never used the products. Yet, among women in the tenofovir gel group whose blood tests indicated use, HIV risk was reduced by 66 percent. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - February 4, 2015 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
FDA Approves Stribild Efficacy Supplement
"On December 17, [2014], the Indications and Usage section of the STRIBILD (elvitegravir 150 mg/cobicistat 150 mg/emtricitabine 200 mg/tenofovir 300mg) label was updated to include patients who are virologically-suppressed (HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL) on a stable antiretroviral regimen for at least 6 months with no history of treatment failure in order to replace their current regimen. Patients should have no known substitutions associated with resistance to the individual components of STRIBILD."
More information is available:
FDA: Press release
AIDSinfo: Patient fact sheet on Stribild (Source: AIDS...
Source: AIDSinfo At-a-Glance: Offering Information on HIV/AIDS Treatment, Prevention, and Research, A Service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) - December 19, 2014 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Spike in Tiny Number of Gay Men on PrEP Abandoning Condoms Hardly Represents 'All' Gay Men
A Dec. 8 blog post in the San Francisco Business Times has sparked another furor over gay men using the HIV drug Truvada to prevent infection with the deadly virus. "San Francisco men shed condoms in favor of Gilead's HIV prevention pill," alleges the title of SFBT reporter Ron Leuty's opinion piece.
Leuty reported on a survey of men in a Kaiser Permanente AIDS-prevention program. More than 500 are taking Truvada once a day as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Leuty called the 45-percent increase among men in the study not using condoms "eye-popping" -- which it is. Clearly these men aren't heeding the Centers for Disease ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - December 13, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Oregon patient groups tackle prescription drug sticker shock
BJ Cavnor, who has been HIV positive for 18 years, used to have a $65-a-month copay for his medications.
Then last January, he went to refill his prescriptions for Tivicay and Truvada and was handed a bill for $2,500.
"I'm fortunate in that I had a credit card to use to pick it up," said Cavnor, who lives in Portland.
Cavnor's predicament, and sticker shock, has become increasingly common in Oregon. What changed for him is that his insurance company re-classified his meds from a flat copayment… (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)
Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines - December 2, 2014 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Elizabeth Hayes Source Type: news
The Most Celebrated, Mistrusted Little Pill in the World Two Old Friends Debate The Daily Drug That Could Revolutionize HIV Prevention
Longtime friends Peter Staley, left, and Sean Strub pose for a portrait in Strub's home in Milford, Pennsylvania. Truvada, the HIV preventive drug, sits on the table before them. (Photo by Damon Dahlen)
Downtown Milford, population 1,021, is a picturesque street surrounded by forested hills. In the fall, sheafs of dried autumn corn decorate the lampposts; pumpkins sit outside shops with wooden signs. Prominent AIDS activist Sean Strub first came to the Pennsylvania town in 1996, looking for a quiet place to recoup from his long and brutal illness. He'd begun a recently approved regimen of 16 pills a day -- the most effe...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - December 1, 2014 Category: Science Source Type: news
Fighting an Epidemic: AIDS Group Wages Lonely Fight Against Pill to Prevent H.I.V.
A growing consensus in favor of Truvada is opposed by one vocal man, Michael Weinstein, and his nonprofit organization. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - November 16, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: By JOSH BARRO Tags: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Weinstein, Michael Truvada (Drug) Source Type: news
Fighting an Epidemic: AIDS Group Wages Lonely Fight Against Pill to Prevent H.I.V.
A growing consensus in favor of Truvada is opposed by one vocal man, Michael Weinstein, and his nonprofit organization. (Source: NYT)
Source: NYT - November 16, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: By JOSH BARRO Tags: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Weinstein, Michael Truvada (Drug) Source Type: news
Africa: Daily Pill Should Be Part of a Combined Approach to Preventing HIV
[Key Correspondents]A 'magical' pill, popularly known as Truvada, emerged in the HIV community a few years ago but is continuing to cause controversy. (Source: AllAfrica News: HIV-Aids and STDs)
Source: AllAfrica News: HIV-Aids and STDs - November 12, 2014 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Viral Load Reductions Persist With Less Efavirenz for HIVViral Load Reductions Persist With Less Efavirenz for HIV
Reduced-dose efavirenz is effective when used in combination with tenofovir plus emtricitabine as first-line therapy in HIV-positive patients, the ENCORE1 study shows. Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines - November 6, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: HIV/AIDS News Source Type: news
Antiretroviral Combos With Emtricitabine Outdo LamivudineAntiretroviral Combos With Emtricitabine Outdo Lamivudine
First-line tenofovir-based antiretroviral regimens containing lamivudine are associated with a greater risk for virologic failure in HIV than those with emtricitabine, report Dutch investigators. Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines - November 3, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: HIV/AIDS News Source Type: news
Merck Announces Data from 48-Week Phase 2b Study of Investigational HIV Therapy Doravirine (MK-1439) in Treatment-Naive Patients
Dateline City:
WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J.
Phase 3 Clinical Trial Enrollment Scheduled to Start by the End of 2014
WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada,
today announced the presentation of results from a Phase 2b clinical
trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of once-daily oral doravirine,
an investigational next-generation non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase
inhibitor (NNRTI), plus tenofov...
Source: Merck.com - Research and Development News - November 3, 2014 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Research and Development News Corporate News Latest News Source Type: news
Model explains why HIV prevention dosing differs by sex
A mathematical model predicts that women must take the antiretroviral medication Truvada daily to prevent HIV infection via vaginal sex, whereas just two doses per week can protect men from HIV infection via anal sex. This finding helps explain why two large clinical trials testing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, in women failed to show efficacy. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - October 30, 2014 Category: Science Source Type: news
