Posted by Michael Wonder on 22 Jul 2016
First medicine for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis recommended for approval in the EU
22 July 2016 - Truvada to enhance existing HIV prevention strategies.
The EMA has recommended granting a marketing authorisation in the European Union (EU) for Truvada (emtricitabine / tenofovir disoproxil) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in combination with safer sex practices to reduce the risk of sexually-acquired human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in adults at high risk. PrEP is a way for people who do not have HIV but who are at high risk of infection with HIV to lower their chances of becoming infected should they be exposed to the virus.
Truvada is the first medicine recommended to reduce the risk of HIV infection in the EU. It is to be used as part of an overall HIV infection prevention strategy, notably including condom use, that can not only prevent HIV infection but also other sexually transmitted infections.
While this approval for PrEP is new, Truvada is not a new medicine. It was first authorised in the EU in 2005 in combination with at least one other antiviral medicine to treat adults infected with HIV-1.
