FDA approves the first HIV-prevention pill
By The Week Staff | July 16, 2012
The Truvada pill contains two antiretroviral drugs and has been used to treat HIV since 2002.
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n Monday, the FDA approved Truvada, the first medication intended to prevent HIV infections in people having sex with infected partners. In clinical trials where HIV-negative individuals had unprotected sex with multiple partners, including some with HIV, the pill reduced the risk of infection by 42 percent compared with a placebo. Another trial with heterosexual couples where one partner was infected found that Truvada, which is taken daily, reduced the risk by 75 percent. The FDA warned that the drug, which will cost patients about $450 a year, should be used in conjunction with other prevention methods.
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