Study finds HIV drug works in heterosexuals too
ATLANTA – An AIDS drug already shown to help prevent spread of the virus in gay men also works for heterosexual men and women, two studies in Africa found. Experts called it a breakthrough for the continent that has suffered most from AIDS.
“These studies could help us to reach the tipping point in the HIV epidemic,” said Michael Sidibe, executive director of the United Nation’s AIDS program, in a statement Wednesday as the study results were announced.
“This is really a game changer,” said Dr. Jared Baeten, the University of Washington researcher who was a leader of one of the studies.
The prevention drug is Truvada, a pill already on pharmacy shelves to treat people with HIV. It’s made by Gilead Sciences Inc. of Foster City, Calif. Another Gilead drug, Viread, was also used in one of the two African studies.
Earlier research with Truvada found it prevented spread of HIV to uninfected gay men. But experts were thrilled Wednesday at the first compelling evidence that AIDS medications can prevent infection between men and women. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which gave advice last fall for use of the preventive drugs among gays, is now developing guidance for heterosexuals in this country.
At the same time, national and international health officials said it’s far from clear how preventive use of these drugs will play out. How many people would want to take a pill each day to reduce their risk of infection? Would they stick with it? Would they become more sexually reckless?
There already is a supply problem. In Africa, 6.6 million people are now on AIDS drugs, but 9 million people who are eligible for the treatment are on a waiting list, according to the World Health Organization.
The first of the new studies, run by the CDC, involved more than 1,200 men and women in Botswana. About half took Truvada each day. The other half got a fake pill.
The drug lowered the risk of infection by roughly 78 percent, researchers said.
The second study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and run by the University of Washington. It involved more than 4,700 heterosexual couples in Kenya and Uganda. The medications reduced the risk of HIV infection by 62 percent to 73 percent, the researchers said.
An independent review panel on Sunday said the benefit was clear-cut and stopped handing out placebos, instead offering the preventive drugs. They deemed it unethical to withhold the medications from people who had been on placebo, Baeten said.
In both studies, participants also were offered counseling and free condoms, which may help explain the relatively low overall infection rate.
On Tuesday, United Nations health officials announced Gilead Sciences had agreed to allow Truvada, Viread and two other drugs to be made by generic manufacturers, potentially increasing their availability in poor countries.