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HWN Suggests

Twenty-One Attempts at Swallowing Truvada

I have been trying to swallow Truvada all year. Well, not actually swallow it. (This is not that kind of personal essay.) It’s the idea of the thing that I can’t seem to get past my throat, down into my stomach where I might digest it and incorporate it as a normalized part of my queer blood and bones, seamlessly into my gay DNA. The call for that kind of total absorption—“There Is a Daily Pill That Prevents HIV. Gay Men Should Take It”—seems to be the growing chorus from much of the HIV/LGBTQ advocate class. And, at least from a public health point-of-view, I understand why: The science is sound, and the potential for preventing future infections is extremely promising.

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Featured

 Gilead Wants to PrEP a Truvada Substitute

Gilead Sciences, Inc. has earned a reputation for playing dirty to maintain its stronghold upon the antiretroviral drug market, has shown a blatant disregard for the health and finances of HIV patients, and has even been taking advantage of legal loopholes to give insurers and patients no choice but to buy their product at a premium price.

Articles of Interest

An HIV-prevention drug is widely available. Yet at-risk women are getting left behind

In the U.S., women account for a fifth of new infections. But a persistent lack of education means few even know about the highly effective medication known as PrEP.

Deciding On Truvada: Who Should Take HIV Prevention Pill?

"It's not just, 'Here's a pill, take it, and you're rendered protected," says Dr. Kenneth Mayer of Fenway Health in Boston. He has been researching the strategy for years. It's called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. Mayer says there's one very important thing people have to know before they start using Truvada for prevention. "We want to be sure before starting a person on PrEP that they're not HIV-infected," he says. That's because Truvada alone isn't good enough to treat HIV. The virus could develop resistance to the drug if it's the only antiviral someone is taking. For the same reason, people on Truvada who are HIV-negative have to get retested for HIV every few months.

Gilead Will Donate Truvada to U.S. for H.I.V. Prevention

The manufacturer will provide enough of the drug to supply 200,000 patients annually for more than a decade. Critics said it would not be enough to end the AIDS epidemic and questioned the company’s motives.

Here’s What We Actually Know About The Pill That Prevents HIV

Here’s what the research actually says about the safety and effectiveness of that famous blue pill.

How Stigma Surrounding the Use of HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis Undermines Prevention and Pleasure: A Call to Destigmatize “Truvada Whores”

Antiretroviral preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP; emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate [Truvada]) prevents HIV without penalizing sexual pleasure, and may even enhance pleasure (e.g., by reducing HIV-related anxiety). However, concern about sexual risk behavior increasing with PrEP use (risk compensation) and corresponding stereotypes of promiscuity may undermine PrEP’s preventive potential.

PrEP on-demand dosing guide

PrEP on-demand is just as its name suggests; you take it ‘on-demand’, or when you know you’re going to have sex. PrEP on-demand requires less pills over a shorter period (before and after sex) which means less drug in your body. Over time, it could be cost saving too. It’s easy to start and stop as you need, but before you can start, you must know how to take it safely. Because, while there are less pills involved, the timing of when to take those pills is very important. Deviating from the dosage schedule means you may not be as protected from HIV, and you don’t want that!

PrEP: Protection against HIV in a pill?

PrEP is a combination of two antiretroviral medications, tenofovir and emtricitabine, that, if taken every day, can now prevent HIV. The pill (Truvada) is FDA approved. Truvada works by blocking an enzyme so that HIV cannot reproduce and establish infection in the body.

Sex Without Fear

For some men, Truvada’s new use seems just as revolutionary for sex as it is for medicine. “I’m not scared of sex for the first time in my life, ever. That’s been an adrenaline rush,” says Damon L. Jacobs, 43, a therapist who has chronicled his own experience with the drug on Facebook so enthusiastically that some assume Gilead, the drug’s manufacturer, must be paying him. (It’s not, say both he and Gilead.)

Sex without fear – ​my experiment with ​the HIV-prevention drug PrEP

PrEP is controversial even on the gay scene. Does the drug encourage dangerous ‘barebacking’ or could it be the game-changer that wipes out HIV for good? Matt Cain decided to take it for three months and find out.

Stopping HIV? The Truvada Revolution – Part 1

A drug called Truvada is the first FDA-approved means of preventing HIV infection. If an HIV-negative person takes the pill every day, he or she is nearly 99 percent protected from contracting the virus. Controversy continues to surround the broad uptake of Truvada, but the landscape of safer sex and HIV prevention changes fundamentally from this point forward—particularly within the gay male community, the population hit hardest by HIV in America.

The PrEPisode

So this medication we're talking about, called Truvada, was actually made up of two drugs called tenofovir and emtricitabine. These actually weren't new drugs; they actually have a long track record of being used to keep HIV under control. But now all of a sudden in 2012, they're being used in folks who did not have HIV to prevent getting it, rather than treating it.

The Ultimate HIV PrEP Showdown—Truvada vs. Descovy—A Doctor’s Guide

Ultimately, both Truvada and Descovy are highly effective at preventing HIV, and the best option depends on your specific risk factors and health profile. I frequently talk to patients about their lifestyle, medical history, and preferences to help them make the best choice for their health. I encourage you to schedule an appointment with a healthcare provider who can guide you through the decision-making process and help determine which PrEP option may be right for you.

There’s a Drug That Prevents HIV. Let’s Use It

Since 2012, there has been a drug that can protect you from getting infected with HIV. It’s a combination of drugs that originally were developed to treat the infection, but studies found that giving it to people who are uninfected but at high risk of getting exposed to HIV could lower their risk of getting HIV by as much as 90%.

This Pill Can Stop HIV

The drug that could end the HIV pandemic is already here. Branded Truvada, this pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) prevents HIV infection by blocking the virus’s ability to replicate. “It’s a big deal,” says Robert Grant, a leading HIV/AIDS investigator at the University of California, San Francisco. “It’s an opportunity for uninfected people to proactively protect themselves.”

Truvada and the truth: is HIV prevention propelling the STI epidemic?

Among men who have sex with men, ‘pre-exposure prophylaxis’, or PrEP, has apparently led to a fall in condom use.

Truvada for PrEP*

For HIV-negative adults and adolescents weighing at least 77 pounds (35 kg), one tablet once daily, with or without food.

Truvada hailed as HIV wonder drug: why do you – or don't you – take it?

If you’re using HIV prevention pill Truvada, considering it, or decidedly not interested, we want to hear from you.

Truvada has been called the 'miracle' HIV pill – so why is uptake so slow?

It has been approved by the FDA and endorsed by the World Health Organization as safe and effective in preventing HIV, so why is there so much pushback to this so-called ‘miracle drug’?

Truvada or Descovy: which should I take for PrEP?

TDF/emtricitabine (available from generic manufacturers or as Truvada) and TAF/emtricitabine (Descovy) are equally effective (~99%) at protecting against HIV when taken daily.

Truvada: 5 Things to Know About the First Drug to Prevent HIV

The drug, called Truvada, which is already approved for the treatment of HIV in infected patients, works by lowering the amount of virus circulating in people’s blood. But clinical trials show that it can also protect uninfected high-risk people from acquiring the virus, if they take the drug daily before and after exposure.

Why Are Patients Switching from Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate/Emtricitabine (Truvada) to Tenofovir Alafenamide/Emtricitabine (Descovy) for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis?

The high cost of patented, brand-name PrEP formulas are likely to continue to present barriers to PrEP's scalability. In fact, one systematic review found that the high cost of PrEP and associated challenges dealing with insurance companies, were cited as barriers to prescribing PrEP among physicians across studies.

Resources

20 Years of Truvada: A (Nearly Exhaustive) Timeline

“With the arrival of generic tenofovir disoproxil and emtricitabine combo tablets, which are 99% cheaper than branded Truvada and widely considered highly effective as pre-exposure prophylaxis and perfectly safe for most people at risk for HIV, big questions arise regarding the high stakes of brand-name drug competition and dominance overshadowing the very real potential of leveraging a very low-cost alternative to maximize access to a tried-and-true HIV prevention modality.”

8 things you didn’t know about Truvada

Truvada is a combination of two medicines, emtricitabine and tenofovir. It has been used... as part of a drug regimen that suppresses HIV in people already suffering from the virus. Truvada works by blocking an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, which HIV uses to copy its genetic material and reproduce. In addition to suppressing HIV in people who have already been infected, Truvada can also prevent the virus from infecting people in the first place. In 2012, it became the first drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in preventing HIV-negative people from getting HIV through sexual intercourse.

Truvada

Do not take Truvada for HIV PrEP if you already have HIV or you do not know your HIV infection status. You must be HIV-negative to start Truvada. Truvada can only help reduce your risk of getting HIV infection before you are infected. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV infection before taking Truvada for PrEP. If you have HIV, you need to take other ARVs with Truvada to treat HIV infection. Truvada by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV. If you have HIV and take only Truvada, over time your HIV may become harder to treat.