Pre Exposure Prophylaxis News and Research

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Research roundup: Caring for dual eligibles; Antitrust policy and the health law

Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this report notes a systematic difference in life expectancy across region and race. "Within in each sex-race group, there are striking geographical differences in the probability of survival to age 70. ... These differences are larger for males than females within each race and larger for blacks than whites within each sex."

21 Apr 2012

WHO releases guidance on couples testing, counseling, including ART for discordant couples

The WHO on Wednesday released its new 54-page "Guidance on couples HIV testing and counselling, including antiretroviral therapy (ART) for treatment and prevention in serodiscordant couples: Recommendations for a public health approach," according to the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog.

20 Apr 2012

Researchers, advocates meet in Sydney to discuss state of microbicide, HIV prevention research

"Three decades after the full onset of the global HIV tragedy, science appears to finally be developing preventative measures, including microbicides that would thwart infections in the first place, according to individuals at" the biennial International Microbicides Conference in Sydney, the Asia Sentinel writes.

19 Apr 2012

Anti-HIV pill could prevent thousands of new infections: Study finds

A once daily pill to prevent HIV infection could significantly reduce the spread of the AIDS-causing virus. However it would only be cost-effective if limited to men at very high risk for HIV infection, according to a new study.

18 Apr 2012

No added HIV risk with hormonal contraceptives

An HIV prevention trial that pre-dates the shift to antiretroviral (ARV)-based approaches is nonetheless helping to answer some of the most relevant and topical questions the field is facing today.

18 Apr 2012

International Microbicides Conference to discuss state of HIV prevention research

Researchers, activists and funders are meeting this week in Sydney to discuss the state of HIV prevention research. The biennial International Microbicides Conference, which was opened on Sunday evening by the Honorable Tanya Plibersek MP, Australian Minster of Health, is taking place amid renewed optimism about development and delivery of new HIV prevention options with the potential for ending the AIDS epidemic, including anti-retroviral based microbicides and pre-exposure prophylaxis.

17 Apr 2012

AHF calls on FDA Commissioner Hamburg to step down

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation's largest HIV/AIDS organization, today called on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to step down in response to the agency's gross mismanagement of new product reviews and a lack of transparency.

29 Mar 2012

Experts discuss significant findings from CROI in video interview

This post in the AIDS.gov blog provides video of Ron Valdiserri, deputy assistant secretary of health for infectious diseases, interviewing Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, at the recent 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

22 Mar 2012

Challenges to achieving an AIDS-free generation

In a plenary presentation at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle on Wednesday, Dorothy Mbori-Ngacha of UNICEF examined the challenges to reaching the goal of an AIDS-free generation, by "eliminating 90 percent of HIV infections among children by 2015," and "outlined the four pillars of achieving that goal," including preventing HIV among women, preventing unintended pregnancies, preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), and supporting HIV-positive women and their families, the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" reports.

9 Mar 2012

Preliminary results of Partners PrEP Study show promise, investigators report at CROI

"Investigators gave more details about the positive results of the Partners PrEP Study Tuesday at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

8 Mar 2012

Study highlights challenges of adherence in successful deployment of PrEP interventions

"Data presented from the FEM-PrEP trial by Dr. Lut Van Damme Tuesday at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle highlighted the challenge that adherence plays in successfully deploying effective Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) interventions," HIV Medicine Association Executive Director Andrea Weddle writes in this guest post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog.

8 Mar 2012

International Microbicides Conference to take place from April 15-18

The biennial International Microbicides Conference is the premier gathering for those working on new approaches to HIV prevention and this year's conference in Sydney, Australia will place a strong emphasis on the role of community in both research and implementation of scientific findings. The conference will take place from April 15-18 at the Sydney Exhibition and Conference Centre located on the Darling Harbour waterfront.

23 Feb 2012

AHF dismayed at FDA decision to expedite review for expanded use of Gilead's AIDS drug, Truvada

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation's largest HIV/AIDS nonprofit medical provider, today expressed its disappointment and dismay at the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision to grant an expedited review for Gilead Sciences' application for expanded use of its blockbuster AIDS drug, Truvada, as a means of preventing HIV infection in non-infected people.

16 Feb 2012

FDA accepts Gilead's Truvada sNDA and grants Priority Review

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) and granted a six-month Priority Review for once-daily Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV-1 infection among uninfected adults.

14 Feb 2012

AHF calls for top to bottom shake-up of management at FDA

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today called for a top to bottom shake-up of the management at the Food and Drug Administration as well as a Congressional investigation following the publication of a Washington Post news article (1/31/12) that reported, "…the Food and Drug Administration secretly monitored the personal e-mail of a group of its own scientists and doctors after they warned Congress that the agency was approving medical devices that they believed posed unacceptable risks to patients."

3 Feb 2012

Global plan of action needed to end AIDS

After "President Obama threw the full weight of the U.S. government behind a vision" to end the AIDS epidemic in a World AIDS Day speech, "[n]ow the question is: How will we achieve this goal? What are the priority actions to take today, tomorrow, and years from now?" Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

8 Dec 2011

PrEP shows promise against HIV infection

A new weapon has emerged to prevent HIV infection. Called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, it is a strategy of providing medications to at-risk people before they are exposed to the virus. Having shown great promise in recent phase 3 clinical trials, PrEP may soon be rolled out for public use.

8 Dec 2011

VOICE continues testing daily use of ARV Truvada among women in sub-Saharan Africa

VOICE, an HIV prevention trial that has been evaluating two antiretroviral (ARV)-based approaches for preventing the sexual transmission of HIV in women - daily use of one of two different ARV tablets or of a vaginal gel - has stopped testing the gel.

29 Nov 2011

Recent scientific progress in developing new HIV/AIDS interventions

Kaitlin Christenson, coalition director for the Global Health Technologies Coalition, "reflects on recent progress made by the scientific community in developing new interventions to combat HIV/AIDS as a result of leadership from the U.S. government" in this ONE blog post.

19 Nov 2011

Microbicide Trials Network stops tenofovir arm of study after findings show drug less effective than anticipated

"The Microbicide Trials Network (MTN), which is funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, on Wednesday announced that it decided to stop one arm of a study involving more than 5,000 women in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Uganda" after "an interim review of the ongoing trial by an independent monitoring board found that the drug tenofovir when used as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) had less effect in protecting women than anticipated," Science Magazine's "Science Insider" blog reports.

30 Sep 2011