Alternative to PrEP?

[nekofox]

[think before following links] https://news.yahoo.com/gsks-long-acting-injection-beats-091421824.html

 

Compared to taking the daily regiment, this is going to be interesting in something to look at as an alternative for every other month, compared to daily and having the issues for kidneys and bones.

[ukboi99]

There's been big improvements in the medical world of HIV in the last few years. If this injection is as good as it sounds it could do wonders in reducing HIV levels.

With cheaper truvada coming out in September due to an expiring patent, hopefully PreP becomes accessible to more people. 

Only problem is that the injection probably won't be available to the public for a few more years, and when it does come out will probably be out of a lot of people's price range. 

[fillmyholeftl]

The "data" is interesting. If Truvada is taken daily, it is 99% effective. How can something be 69% more effective than 99%..... The effectiveness of Truvada that they are quoting must be for something other than daily dosing.  Sure an injection is easier and eliminates the taking of a daily pill, but I just get leary when the data quoted is sketchy

[nekofox]

19 minutes ago, fillmyholeftl said:

The "data" is interesting. If Truvada is taken daily, it is 99% effective. How can something be 69% more effective than 99%..... The effectiveness of Truvada that they are quoting must be for something other than daily dosing.  Sure an injection is easier and eliminates the taking of a daily pill, but I just get leary when the data quoted is sketchy

Nothing wrong with being skeptic about this.  Hence my point too that it's going to be interesting in general since PrEP itself has been overall effective, BUT has those nasty side effects that does happen in a good portion of people (met a guy who was taking it, but had issues with his bones from it).   Hopefully with the new advancement and the expiring patent, things can get easier for everyone who needs to take PrEP and aren't chasers that want to play with everyone.

[BootmanLA]

1 hour ago, fillmyholeftl said:

The "data" is interesting. If Truvada is taken daily, it is 99% effective. How can something be 69% more effective than 99%..... The effectiveness of Truvada that they are quoting must be for something other than daily dosing.  Sure an injection is easier and eliminates the taking of a daily pill, but I just get leary when the data quoted is sketchy

I think the point is that in the real world, absolute fidelity to the daily regime for Truvada is not a universal condition, and thus the injection, which only requires one shot every 8 weeks, has better results (because the doctor's office will likely schedule your appointments in advance, you'll get a reminder, etc. and that beats the sometimes irregular PReP regimen some guys have. A clinical trial wouldn't call the Truvada people every day and remind them to take their pills, and you can bet some forget, some skip a dose or more for any number of reasons, etc.

Because that mirrors the real world, where people are imperfect.

[nekofox]

On 5/19/2020 at 12:49 PM, BootmanLA said:

I think the point is that in the real world, absolute fidelity to the daily regime for Truvada is not a universal condition, and thus the injection, which only requires one shot every 8 weeks, has better results (because the doctor's office will likely schedule your appointments in advance, you'll get a reminder, etc. and that beats the sometimes irregular PReP regimen some guys have. A clinical trial wouldn't call the Truvada people every day and remind them to take their pills, and you can bet some forget, some skip a dose or more for any number of reasons, etc.

Because that mirrors the real world, where people are imperfect.

That's a big point to take into consideration too in a recent survey I took asking about what I've done for playing with poz or neg guys and all, they started asking about taking injections instead of the daily pill regiment, so it's starting to look more and more of a possibility to get PrEP injections in the near future instead of just the pill form.

[rawTOP]

One point of clarification – this is not an alternative to PrEP. It's a different type of PrEP. Truvada was the first type of PrEP. Descovy was the second type of PrEP and now this injectable looks like it will be the third type.

If Truvada works for you, stay on it. There's nothing wrong with Truvada for most people. It's a generic drug in most of the world and will be soon in the US. IMHO, in a world with sky-high medical costs, I don't think it's ethical to take a drug that costs $1000+/month when you could take one that's $50/month.

Descovy is great for folks that have side effects from Truvada, and the injectable looks like it will be great for folks who keep missing pills (e.g. drug addicts). IMHO, the extra cost is warranted in those cases.