Drug Reduces HIV Infection Among Gay Men. 23/11/10

Reduces risk of HIV infection rate by nearly 44 percent

Pretoria — The daily intake of an antiretroviral drug called the Truvada can reduce risk of HIV infection rate by nearly 44 percent for gay men, researchers found on Tuesday.

The once-a-day pill yielded "positive results" when administered to 2499 gay men and 29 transgendered women between the ages of 18 and 67, said the Medical Research Council in a statement.

Half of the men took Truvada, a pill containing Gilead's drugs tenofovir and emtricitabine, and half got a placebo.

The council said this showed the Truvada drug reduced HIV infection by 43.8 percent among those taking it.

The results were the first showing that oral use of anti-retroviral drug among HIV negative gay men could provide protection against the virus.

The trial study was conducted in South Africa, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Thailand and the United States between July 2007 and December 2009.

The council's Gita Ramjee said the results gave hope for the successful use of new biomedical technologies together with current options such as condoms and male circumcision for HIV prevention.

Meanwhile, the HIV Prevention Research Unit was undertaking another trial called Vaginal and Oral Intervention to Control the Epidemic.

The study is conducted among HIV negative women among several communities in Durban, with results expected in 2013.