US FDA priority review for Truvada for reducing HIV risk

The US Food and Drug Administration has accepted the supplemental New Drug Application and granted a six-month priority review for biotech firm Gilead Sciences’ (Nasdaq: GILD) once-daily Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV-1 infection among uninfected adults. Truvada was approved by the FDA in 2004 for the treatment of HIV-1 infection and is currently the most-prescribed antiretroviral treatment in the USA.

The FDA grants priority review status to drug candidates that provide major advances in treatment or provide a treatment where no adequate therapy exists. Gilead submitted the Truvada for PrEP sNDA on December 15, 2011. The FDA has set a target review date for Truvada for PrEP under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) of June 15, 2012. The agency has also indicated that Truvada for PrEP will be discussed at the FDA Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee meeting scheduled in May.

If the sNDA is approved, Truvada – which generated sales of $2.88 billion in 2011 - would be the first agent indicated for uninfected individuals to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV. The sNDA is based on the results of two large placebo-controlled trials of Truvada as PrEP sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health and the University of Washington. Several other clinical studies support the use of Truvada for HIV risk reduction, for which it is not currently approved.