The escalating cost of the only HIV prevention pill may have been a key factor hindering widespread use in recent years, according to a new analysis by U.S. government researchers, underscoring long-standing concerns over the ability to eradicate the virus.
From 2014 to 2018, total payments made by government programs, commercial insurers, and patients for Truvada, which was approved to prevent HIV in 2012, jumped from $114 million to nearly $2.1 billion. Yet the number of people who were given prescriptions in 2018 was just 204,700, which amounted to less than 20% of those estimated who could have benefited from the medication.
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Pursuant to Trump’s EO on drug importation, people with HIV could apply for waivers, subject to Section 804J2, to import it for personal use. There’s nothing in the law that prevents a waiver to allow imports of generic Truvada approved in other countries. Food for thought for those who follow this closely. The generic is about $800 for three months in Canada, compared to the brand, $1700/month here. https://www.pharmacychecker.com/emtric. itabine%252ftenofovir/