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By Tim Fitzsimons
Gilead Sciences will donate free Truvada tablets to 200,000 uninsured people over the next 11 years to help prevent new HIV infections, the pharmaceutical company said Thursday.
The announcement of this donation comes just a day after the company announced that a generic version of the daily pill would be available in September 2020, a year ahead of schedule.
"We are proud to partner with the CDC to significantly expand access to drugs that can help prevent new HIV infections," said Gregg Alton, Gilead's Patient Manager, in a statement.
Alton said he thought the donation, which will last until 2030, "can play an important role in the fight against the HIV epidemic in the United States." Taken daily, Truvada, the pill used for prophylaxis pre-exposure to HIV, prevents HIV transmission.
Health Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement that Gilead's commitment was "a major step in the Trump administration's efforts to use the prevention and treatment tools we have to put in place. end to the HIV epidemic in America by 2030 ".
Carl Schmid, Deputy Executive Director of the AIDS Institute in Washington and co-chair of the President's Advisory Council on HIV / AIDS, described the donation as "a very significant development" that "will free the federal government of its potential spending. billions of dollars over the next 11 years for the purchase of PrEP for uninsured people. "
"After the approval by the House Credits Committee yesterday of an increase of nearly $ 500 million national HIV programs, today, with this announcement, the ############################################################################## The government's "Ending the HIV epidemic" initiative has just received a new impetus and is now closer to reality, "Schmid said in a statement. declaration.
Some academics and activists, however, questioned the impact of this donation on the use of PrEP, as well as the motive and timing of Gilead's announcement.
Jen Kates, Director of Global Health and HIV Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit health think-tank, tweeted that if the 200,000 bottles offered were returned to people who had never taken PrEP before – which may not be the case – would mean that only 36% of Americans who recommended taking PrEP will take it. And that's only if all the patients are new.
Gilead's donation also comes in the wake of negotiations between the pharmaceutical group and the US government over potential patent issues, reported for the first time by the Washington Post.
These negotiations followed the announcement in March by Yale University's Global Health Justice Partnership that Gilead's development and testing of Truvada was almost entirely funded by the federal government. As a result, the CDC, and not Gilead, controls the current PrEP patent. "According to our preliminary examination, the CDC's patents for PrEP seem to be valid and applicable," the partnership writes.
As a result of this news, the HIV / AIDS activist group PrEP4All has called on the government to "break the patent" of Truvada and open it to a broader competition from generic drug manufacturers. Outside the United States, where generic Truvada made in India is widely available, the one-month supply costs less than $ 100.
The group of activists also questioned Gilead's promise to replace the free Truvada by Descovy, a newer and smaller version that would potentially have fewer side effects "if its use is approved as a Prep". Trials are underway to determine the effectiveness and safety of Descovy. a PrEP pill to be taken once a day.
"What this is going to allow Gilead to do is basically to move all of its Truvada PrEP base to Descovy by the time Truvada drops its patent, and that's a huge amount of money. for Gilead, "explained James Krellenstein of PrEP4All.
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