FDA Panel Backs HIV Drug for Preventive USE

A baby born with the virus that causes AIDS appears to have been cured, scientists announced Sunday, describing the case of a child from Mississippi who’s now two-and-a-half-years-old and has been off medication for about a year with no signs of infection. There’s no guarantee the child will remain healthy, although sophisticated testing uncovered just traces of the virus’ genetic material still lingering. If so, it would mark only the world’s second reported cure.

FDA regulators approved Truvada, a Gilead Sciences HIV drug, for use in certain healthy people to help prevent them from contracting the virus that causes AIDS.

A panel of federal health advisers has endorsed the first drug shown to prevent HIV infection in healthy people, clearing the way for a potentially landmark approval in the 30-year-old effort against the virus that causes AIDS.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) -- A panel of federal health advisers has endorsed the first drug shown to prevent HIV infection in healthy people, clearing the way for a potentially landmark approval in the 30-year-old effort against the virus that causes AIDS....

By Qineqt:Gilead Sciences (GILD) has posted better than expected third quarter results on the back of strong sales of Truvada, and exceptional growth of Complera. There is upside potential for the stock, on the premise of strong growth for its newly-launched drug Stribild, and the progress with the Hepatitis C drug.

Bret Jensen submits:Company Overview: Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD), a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of life threatening diseases worldwide.

By Qineqt:Last Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) delayed the approval of two HIV-drugs, Truvada and Quad, until September. However, Truvada has already been a treatment drug and is prescribed by some doctors as a preventive measure as well.

An FDA panel will decide whether to recommend for the first time that certain healthy but at-risk people take a drug to help prevent them from contracting the virus that causes AIDS.