FDA Advisory Committee Recommends Approval of First Drug for Preventing HIV
For the first time, a panel of experts has recommended that the Food and Drug Administration approve a drug for preventing infection with HIV.
The panel told the agency Thursday that it should approve the drug Truvada for HIV prevention in men who have sex with men, HIV-negative partners of people with HIV and “other individuals at risk for acquiring HIV through sexual activity.”
The FDA usually follows the advice of its advisory committees, which are made up of experts from outside the agency, although it does not have to.
If the FDA does approve Truvada for HIV prevention — its decision is expected this summer — it would mark a watershed moment in the 30-year battle against an epidemic that causes 2.7 million new HIV infections each year, according to the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.