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The ART of preventing HIV

Nature Medicine volume 17, pages 46–47 (2011)Cite this article

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Whereas antiretroviral therapy of HIV infection has enormously increased the life expectancy of infected individuals, efforts to prevent HIV have lagged behind—despite the recognized importance of prophylaxis for this disease. Now Robert Grant et al.1 show how taking antiretroviral agents given daily in a single pill reduced the risk of HIV acquisition in 44% of 2,499 uninfected men who had sex with men, indicating that a preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimen with antiretroviral drugs can protect against HIV infection in this group of people at risk. We asked the experts about the implications for the implementation of HIV prevention programs with antiretroviral drugs, the impact on public health and the next step in HIV therapeutics.

Diane Havlir

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References

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Competing interests

S.G.D. has received research support from Gilead Sciences.

J.W.M. is a consultant to Gilead Sciences, Merck and RFS Pharma. He also holds share options in RFS Pharma, an early-stage biotech company that is developing new therapeutics for HIV and hepatitis C virus.

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The ART of preventing HIV. Nat Med 17, 46–47 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0111-46

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