Name: How Scientists Developed a Drug to Prevent HIV
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Here's how scientists developed a once-a-day pill that reduced the risk of sexually transmitted HIV transmission by 99%, a breakthrough that transformed the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The development of PrEP was a breakthrough in HIV prevention.

How Scientists Developed a Drug to Prevent HIV

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Here's how scientists developed a once-a-day pill that reduced the risk of sexually transmitted HIV transmission by 99%, a breakthrough that transformed the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The Development of PrEP was a breakthrough in HIV prevention.

The development of PrEP was a breakthrough in HIV prevention.

Tech & Engineering

How Scientists Developed a Drug to Prevent HIVPublished: October 24, 2022NARRATOR: For HIV-positive patients, could antiviral medication render them safe as partners, no longer able to spread the virus? And could the same antiviral drugs shield healthy people from infection? It was a brand-new approach to prevention. The big PrEP study was called iPrEx.MONICA GANDHI: Oh, there was a lot of pressure riding on the study of iPrEx. Everyone in HIV was waiting for it. This was the first time that there would be a pill where you could prevent getting HIV. I was waiting with bated breath.NARRATOR: The answer came in the closing days of 2010.MONICA GANDHI: When I saw the results, I was elated. I was amazed. I was so excited.NARRATOR: In iPrEx, PrEP cut the risk of new infection by more than 70 percent for people who stuck to the regimen. Further studies show PrEP cuts the risk of HIV infection from having sex by 99 percent and at least 74 percent for people who inject drugs. PrEP relies on the same type of drugs as are used for treatment. Taken as a preventative medication, it creates a defensive shield.MONICA GANDHI: And the HIV comes into your body, but that medication comes and attacks it and prevents it from, essentially, infecting your cells.NARRATOR: That still left the TASP trial, Cohen’s landmark study of treatment as prevention, the second part of the strategy. Their data were still being analyzed at the National Institutes of Health. It was a closely kept secret.MYRON COHEN: I got a call from the N.I.H. saying, “Can you come over to the NIH?” So, we all drove over to the N.I.H. They’re in a room with a large group of people, including the leader, Dr. Dieffenbach. After a few minutes of, of cajoling, he kind of, there was a huge stack of papers, and he threw up this stack of papers in the air and said, “This is a home run.”NARRATOR: Treatment as Prevention worked.MYRON COHEN: We reported that we stopped the transmission of HIV by more than 96 percent.NARRATOR: An HIV-positive person whose treatment brings the viral load so low as to be undetectable will not transmit the virus.DAVID (HIV Patient): Me being undetectable means being able to live again, actually live a normal life and not be scared.

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How Scientists Developed a Drug to Prevent HIV

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