Trial for HIV prevention drug approved

HEALTH EDITOR MORE than 10,000 gay men will be offered a drug which prevents transmission of HIV after health officials lost a Court of Appeal battle over funding.

The drug, PrEP, has been described as a “game changer” in the fight against Aids, but dubbed “promiscuity pills” by critics.

Last month, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court ruling that NHS England did have the power to fund the drug, despite its claim that the responsibility lay with local authorities.

Now, the organisation has announced “a large-scale clinical trial” for PrEP, which is an acronym for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, at a cost of up to £10 million.

Aids charities welcomed the “life-changing” decision. But patients’ groups were cautious about the plan, at a time when the health service is facing the worst financial crisis in its history.

From next year, the drug will be offered to gay men who do not have HIV but are at high risk of being infected through unprotected sex.

So far, studies suggest the anti-retroviral drug, also known as Truvada, can reduce the risk of infection by more than 90 per cent.

Health officials said the trial would determine the best way to ensure take-up of the drug, examine the impact on HIV levels, and any effect on rates of other sexually transmitted infections.

Health officials had previously said that funding the drug could mean children with cystic fibrosis, deaf children in need of hearing implants and amputees needing prosthetics could be denied treatment.

But last night health officials said drug companies had agreed to cut the prices, meaning such patients will not miss out. However, three treatments, including second stem cell transplants for blood cancer patients whose disease has recurred, have been refused funding.

NHS England said the decision not to fund the transplants, along with a drug for high blood pressure and one for complications of kidney transplants, was taken because they did not show sufficient cost-benefit.

Dr Jonathan Fielden, deputy national medical director at NHS England, said the HIV prevention trial had “in part, been made possible by the willingness of many pharmaceutical and device companies to come forward with lower and more responsible prices”.

“We have, however, had to make some tough decisions over what we are not able to fund at this point in time,” he said, saying the drugs would be reconsidered next year.

NHS England has also agreed to fund 10 new treatments for rare diseases.