Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

A preemptive strike against HIV

Nature Medicine volume 15, pages 126–129 (2009)Cite this article

Researchers are enrolling thousands of participants around the world in clinical trials in a massive effort to test whether a once-daily pill can prevent HIV. Cassandra Willyard explores why they are optimistic the strategy will work and why it might be difficult to implement.

The antiretroviral drug tenofovir, in contrast, isn't so recognizable. The powder blue, almond-shaped pill looks a lot like any other medication. But researchers are hoping that this tiny tablet, when taken once daily, will prevent people from contracting HIV just as condoms do.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cassandra Willyard is a science writer based in Brooklyn, New York.,

    Cassandra Willyard

Authors
  1. Cassandra Willyard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Willyard, C. A preemptive strike against HIV. Nat Med 15, 126–129 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0209-126

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0209-126

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing