Drug giant Gilead Sciences, which is known to develop the hit Truvada pill to prevent HIV, on Thursday received an FDA approval to sell Descovy- a drug used already by people having HIV- as the firm’s next-gen prevention drug.
The final approval from the agency comes after one of its advisory panels casted vote supporting Descovy as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) medication in August.
Descovy now can be used as a HIV PrEP by anyone except those who indulge in vaginal sex as its effectiveness hasn’t been researched in this case. Truvada is the approved solution for such patients.
Descovyfor HIV PrEP offers a new prevention option which is similar to the high effectiveness of Truvada with statistically vital improvements in bone and renal safety. This can be a significant consideration since people at HIV risk use PrEP increasingly for advanced period of time, said Daniel O’Dany, CEO of Gilead.
Just like Truvada, patients can take Descovyonce a day and can lower the HIV transmission rate by more than 95 percent. As per GoodRx, a month’s supply of both Truvada and Descovyretail for nearly $1,800, although only some US patients pay such price as public and private insurance cover PrEP.