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Gilead Sciences Presents Survey Findings on PrEP Access and Utilization in the U.S. During COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place Orders
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Gilead Sciences Presents Survey Findings on PrEP Access and Utilization in the U.S. During COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place Orders
- Healthcare Providers Reported High Rates of Continued Care and Prescribing Behavior, Despite Practice-Site Restrictions Affecting >90% of the Survey Respondents
- Separate Clinical Data Presented Suggest no Reported Increase in Sexual Health Risk Behavior From Baseline Among DISCOVER Trial Study Participants -
FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced data presented at the 23rdInternational AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020: Virtual) evaluating the impact of COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders (SIPOs) and PrEP utilization on HIV prevention strategies and associated risk behaviors. Findings presented included results from an online survey conducted by The American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM) to understand potential changes in behavior among pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) users and prescribers in the United States during the height of COVID-19 SIPOs. There were 598 total respondents - 409 PrEP users and 189 PrEP prescribers. While most prescribers (90 percent) reported recommending no change in PrEP regimen, about one-third (33 percent) of PrEP users discontinued therapy voluntarily, mostly (85 percent) due to low perceived HIV risk associated with decreased sexual activity. Only 8 percent of those users who discontinued PrEP cited inability to access PrEP medications. Nearly all prescribers (95 percent) were able to successfully prescribe PrEP despite limitations caused by SIPOs.
PrEP users reported modified sexual behavior associated with HIV risk during SIPOs, with 90 percent reporting no or fewer sexual partners, and no or fewer sex events. From the providers who completed the survey, 68 percent implemented telemedicine practices; 59 percent indicated refilling PrEP medications while postponing routine HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) and laboratory tests, to be completed as soon as possible; and 15 percent opted to completely forgo testing and lab monitoring. Of the 20 percent of responding providers who encountered PrEP users with suspected STIs for which they could not obtain a test, 47 percent treated STIs empirically.
"Reducing the number of new HIV transmissions and ensuring access to critical HIV prevention services must remain a public health priority during this challenging time," said Bruce Packett, Executive Director, The American Academy of HIV Medicine. "These data demonstrate the crucial role that technology-enabled care can play in helping facilitate the safe and timely delivery of critical public health services. My hope is that clinics and HIV prevention providers can continue to adapt to changing circumstances by offering expanded use of telehealth services and other innovative tools to help meet the evolving needs of people at risk for HIV."
"Gilead is committed to supporting efforts to substantially expand access to HIV prevention medications in the communities most impacted. This includes, but is not limited to, the company's ongoing efforts to address the social and structural barriers to care," said Diana Brainard, MD, Senior Vice President and Virology Therapeutic Area Head, Gilead Sciences. "As we work collectively toward ending the epidemic, these survey findings can aid in our efforts to assess and address such barriers."
PrEP is a guideline recommended HIV prevention strategy, but risk compensation could undermine potential benefits. Understanding sexual decision-making and how PrEP is incorporated into existing prevention strategies can help inform future PrEP implementation efforts. DISCOVER is an ongoing multi-center randomized controlled trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of Descovy (emtricitabine 200 mg/tenofovir alafenamide 25 mg) for PrEP® in men and transgender women who have sex with men and are at risk for sexually acquired HIV infection. Data presented on study participant behavior in the DISCOVER trial found no longitudinal changes in the mean number of participants' sex partners; condomless, insertive anal sex partners; or condomless, receptive anal sex partners from baseline through 96 weeks of follow-up. These findings suggest that an increase in risk behavior due to a reduction in perceived risk did not occur in the DISCOVER trial.
In the United States, Descovy for PrEP® is indicated to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection in at-risk adults and adolescents weighing at least 35 kg, excluding individuals at risk of HIV-1 from receptive vaginal sex, as effectiveness in this population has not been evaluated.
Descovy has a Boxed Warning in its U.S. product label regarding the risk of drug resistance when used for PrEP in undiagnosed early HIV infection, and the risk of post-treatment acute exacerbation of hepatitis B. See below for Indication and Important Safety Information.
Key abstracts for HIV prevention data presented at AIDS 2020: Virtual include:
Late-Breaker Submission OADLB01: Impact of COVID-19 Related Shelter-in-Place Orders on PrEP Access, Usage
Details above.
Virtual Poster PEB0165: DISCOVER Study for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP): No Evidence of Risk Compensation in Participants Taking F/TDF or F/TAF for Prep Through 96 Weeks
Baseline prevalence and longitudinal trends in HIV-associated sexual risk behaviors during the DISCOVER trial suggest that risk compensation, defined as an increase in risk behavior due to a reduction in perceived risk, did not occur among study participants. Over a 96-week follow-up period, sexual behavior was assessed by a computer-assisted self-interview questionnaire, including number of sex partners, condomless insertive anal sex (CIAS) partners, and condomless receptive anal sex partners. Study participants' median age was 34 years; 9 percent (474) were black, 24 percent (1,318) were of Hispanic or Latinx ethnicity; 91 percent (4,854) self-identified as gay, 7 percent (385) as bisexual, 1 percent (41) as heterosexual, and 1 percent (71) as transgender women. Through 96 weeks, study participants reported a stable number of total and condomless sexual partners.
Poster Discussion PDB0303: Persistently High Rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections in the DISCOVER HIV PrEP Trial
Through the 96 weeks of follow-up as part of the DISCOVER trial, rates of STI acquisition remained consistent with baseline rates of STIs. At baseline, 16.1 percent of study participants (430) in the Descovy for PrEP® arm and 15.8 percent (421) in the Truvada (emtricitabine 200 mg/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg) for PrEP® arm tested positive for gonorrhea or chlamydia at any anatomic site; 11.3 percent (299) and 10.5 percent (279) tested positive at the rectum. The overall incidence rate of gonorrhea or chlamydia at any anatomic site was 85.7 and 83.1 per 100 person-years for the Descovy for PrEP® and the Truvada for PrEP® arms respectively. In addition, the overall incidence rate of rectal gonorrhea and chlamydia was 47.5 and 46.9 per 100 person-years for the Descovy for PrEP® and the Truvada for PrEP® arms respectively. At 96 weeks, syphilis was found in 14.8 percent and 15.2 percent in the Descovy for PrEP® and Truvada for PrEP® arms, and the incidence rate was 9.9 and 9.3 per 100 person-years, respectively.
Poster Discussion PDB0404: DISCOVER: Deep Sequencing with Unique Molecular Identifiers for Evaluation of HIV-1 Drug Resistance in the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Trial
A study examining standard and ultrasensitive resistance testing from the subset of DISCOVER participants who acquired HIV infection found using standard Sanger sequencing that four of the 20 participants who acquired HIV had the M184V mutation, all in the Truvada for PrEP® arm. These four study participants all had suspected baseline infection, and two of the four also had the M184I mutation. Six study participants had additional mutations related to non-study drug resistance and were presumed to be transmitted.
Similar results were observed when using next generation sequencing (UMI-NGS), with the addition of one participant with M184V in the Descovy for PrEP® arm. Overall, drug resistance in the DISCOVER study was most commonly seen in participants with suspected baseline infections and in only one individual who became infected while on study.
Descovy and Truvada do not prevent other sexually transmitted infections or cure HIV or AIDS.
Douglas Maffei, PhD, Investors
(650) 522-2739
Brian Plummer, Media
(202) 309-5207
Source: Gilead Sciences, Inc.
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