No new HIV Infections with Use of HIV PrEP in Northern California

Kaiser Permanente Northern California has reported the results of a study regarding the use of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Kaiser Permanente is a large integrated healthcare system that provides comprehensive medical services to more than 170 000 adults including in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, and San Jose. According to the study no new HIV infections have occurred among nearly 1,000 people who are taking Truvada for HIV prevention.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Truvada (tenofovir/emtricitabine) for HIV prevention in July 2012. The drug was developed and introduced to the market by Gilead Sciences.

The study involved 972 Kaiser members who started PrEP between its approval in July 2012 and the end of 2014.

The majority of them were men who have sex with men (MSM) and the average age was 38. The researchers also reported very good adherence to the drug based on pharmacy refills, averaging 92 percent.

"The lack of new HIV infections seen in our study reinforces how well PrEP works in a population adherent to the medication – no new infections were seen in 850 person-years of follow-up among active PrEP users and side effects were rare," study co-author Julia Marcus from Kaiser's Division of Research told the Bay Area Reporter.