via California HIV/AIDS Research Program In April 2012, the California HIV/AIDS Research Program (CHRP) of the University of California awarded grants totaling $11.8 million to three collaborative teams of investigators to test a potential HIV prevention medication among high-risk HIV-uninfected persons in several communities throughout California. The studies also will examine new strategies to engage and retain Read More >>

via The Boston Globe, by Sean Cahill Initial results from clinical prevention trials of pre-exposure chemoprophylaxis (PrEP), in oral pill form indicate that PrEP could be the “game changer” needed to more effectively fight HIV. PrEP involves taking antiretroviral medications to prevent HIV. PrEP has shown partial efficacy with men who have sex with men (MSM) and Read More >>

via The New York Times, by Donald G. McNeil Jr. The failure of a daily pill to protect healthy African women against AIDS may not have been the pill’s fault but the women’s reluctance to take it, scientists at an important AIDS conference in Seattle were told this week. Last April, a promising trial of “pre-exposure prophylaxis” Read More >>

via AidsMap.com, by Gus Cairnes Adherence makes all the difference to the efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) heard today. Further data were presented from two trials of PrEP (giving anti-HIV drugs to HIV-negative people to prevent infection), which announced dramatically different results last year. In April 2011, the Read More >>

via AidsMap.com, by Gus Cairns Further testing of drug levels in the blood and immune cells of gay men participating in the iPrEx trial of tenofovir/FTC (Truvada) pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has found that HIV infection in men assigned to Truvada was associated with a lapse in taking the drug after initially adhering reasonably well, rather than never Read More >>

via Financial Times, by Christine Livoti Gilead Sciences’ (NASDAQ: GILD) once-daily Truvada pill has seen only tepid interest for adoption in the HIV prevention setting, despite treatment guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), experts told Biopharm Insight. This is largely related to issues around feasibility, cost and historical evidence for other prevention strategies, which may Read More >>

via AIDS Foundation of Chicago This is an open letter to the Food and Drug Administration, urging the priority review of the drug Truvada for use in PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis). The AIDS Foundation of Chicago and 25 other organizations signed this letter to counter the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s protest of the FDA regarding this review. To read Read More >>

via iPrEx NEws The ANRS (French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis) is about to launch in Europe the first pre-HIV exposure prevention trial in men who have sex with men. This phase III trial—ANRS IPERGAY—will start at the end of January 2012, in Paris (Hôpital Saint-Louis, Professor Jean-Michel Molina and Hôpital Tenon, Professor Read More >>

via HIVandHepatitis.com, by Liz Highleyman The 2 drugs in the Truvada pill — tenofovir and emtricitabine — reach different concentrations in human cervical, vaginal, and rectal mucosa tissues and fluids, according to new research published in the December 7, 2011, issue of Science Translational Medicine. Lower drug levels in the female genital tract suggest that women may Read More >>

via The Huffington Post, by David Ernesto Munar Lives will be saved when the Food and Drug Administration puts its stamp of approval on a groundbreaking preventative approach called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, recently found to reduce HIV infections. With PrEP, people who are not infected with HIV take a daily pill, usually used to treat the Read More >>