Kampala Key, Vulnerable and Priority Populations (KVP) News

TAG Welcomes HHS Lawsuit Against Gilead; Urges Dramatic Scale-Up of Low-Cost PrEP November 11, 2019  – Treatment Action Group (TAG) welcomes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) pursuit of a  lawsuit  against Gilead Sciences, Inc., the manufacturer of Truvada and Descovy, the only two FDA-approved pills for pre-exposure prophlyaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV. The suit is the result of months of pressure by activists who have rightly asserted that tenofovir-based PrEP research was underwritten by U.S. taxpayers, many of whom remain shut-out from accessing  PrEP due to financial barriers arising directly from the corporate price gouging. For years, the drugmaker Gilead has profited off of taxpayer funded research by charging excessive prices for PrEP. Gilead’s high pricing has limited the scope of initiatives to end the HIV epidemic—particularly among low-income communities and communities of color. While TAG and allies call for...

Interesting story by Deena Beasley LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc ( GILD.O ) hopes to soon introduce a pricey new pill to prevent HIV in people at risk of contracting the infection, but the drugmaker faces opposition from an unusual source: patient advocates. Such groups have traditionally lobbied for insurance coverage of newer HIV drugs regardless of expense. But at least three U.S. organizations now question whether Gilead’s Descovy would be the best option for most people at risk of exposure. A generic version of the current prevention pill, Truvada, is due in the United States next September, which should bring down costs and give many more people access to the therapy, they say. Their resistance is being echoed by some insurers, including the pharmacy benefit arm of Cigna Inc, which are hinting that price will be a barrier to providing coverage for Descovy. “Based on the science that we have seen thus far, there is no indication that everyone n...

Gilead Sciences, the pharmaceutical that makes Truvada, the only FDA-approved drug for PrEP, is having a great week in the public relations department. First, Gilead announced they were  surrendering their patent for Truvada a year early , and now Federal officials have announced that Gilead  will donate enough Truvada for 200,000 people  in the United States. Don’t fall for this. Gilead is engaged in a brilliantly self-serving marketing ploy and dressing it up like charity. Their deeply entrenched ownership of our governmental and community HIV response is as clear as ever. This ownership isn’t absolute; there are activists and national community leaders who see this ploy for what it is.  #PrEP4All has met the news with great skepticism , and national non-profit leaders, who depend upon Gilead funding, have damned the announcement with faint praise or silence. Here are five reasons why Gilead is simply building profits and ignoring pleas to do some real good....

By Donald G. McNeill Jr.  May 9, 2019  The New York Times Full article available at:  https://www.nytimes.com/ 2019/05/09/health/gilead- truvada-hiv-aids.html? register=email&auth=register- email Gilead Sciences, maker of Truvada, the only drug approved to prevent infection with H.I.V., will donate enough of the drug to supply 200,000 patients annually for up to 11 years, federal health officials announced on Thursday.  Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services said the donation came about “as a result of discussions between the Trump administration and Gilead.” The drug is taken once daily to prevent infection with H.I.V., a strategy called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. An estimated one million Americans are at risk for infection and should be taking the pills, but only about 270,000 are doing so.  H.I.V. activists and experts had mixed reactions to the news. While some felt the donation was a good start, they sa...