The Food and Drug Administration indicated on Tuesday that Truvada appears to be both safe as well as effective when it comes to the prevention of HIV.  They concluded that daily ingestion of the HIV pill has the potential to prevent patients from being infected with the “serious and life-threatening illness that requires lifelong treatment,” MSNBC reported.

The HIV pill favored by the FDA is now that much closer to becoming the first drug approved on the market that is capable of preventing the virus which causes AIDS from infecting healthy people.

A panel of FDA advisers will take the review into consideration on Thursday, as they decide whether or not to approve Truvada as a preventative treatment for those at high risk of contracting HIV through sexual intercourse.  While the FDA is not technically required to adhere to the advice of its panel, it typically does.

Gilead Sciences Inc., based in California’s Foster City, has been marketing the their AIDS pill as a treatment for those infected with the virus since back in 2004.

Truvada is a composed of two older HIV drugs known as Viread and Emtriva.  The two predecessors were often prescribed by doctors as part of a drug cocktail designed to make reproduction for the virus more difficult.  Not only do those with low viral levels experience reduced symptoms, they are also far less likely to develop AIDS.

Researchers first reported, back in 2010, that Truvada was capable of preventing healthy individuals from contracting the HIV virus.  The conclusion came as the result of a three-year study in which patients were administered daily doses of the drug.  When accompanied by counseling and condoms, healthy bisexual and homosexual men taking their daily regiment of HIV pills were 44% less likely to be infected by the virus.

AIDS United’s vice president, Ronald Johnson, was quoted having said:

“If we’re going to reduce the more than 50,000 new HIV infections in this country each year, we need to increase the available options for people.”

HIV Pill Truvada Side Effects Video:

HIV Pill ‘Truvada’ Might Soon Be Released is a post from: The Inquisitr