Gilead to donate HIV prevention drug to 200,000 patients

By Tim Fitzsimons

Gilead Sciences will give free Truvada pills to 200,000 uninsured people for the next 11 years to help prevent new HIV infections, the pharmaceutical company said Thursday.

The announcement of the donation came just one day after the company said a generic version of the daily pill would be available in September 2020, a year earlier than expected.

“We are proud to partner with CDC to dramatically expand access to medication that can help prevent new HIV infections,” Gregg Alton, Gilead’s chief patient officer, said in a statement.

Alton said he believes the donation, which will extend through 2030, “can play an important role in ending the HIV epidemic in the United States.” When taken daily, Truvada, the pill used for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, prevents HIV transmission.

source: nbcnews.com