Researchers stop the study of HIV prevention pills

The pill Truvada is supposed to curb infection of HIV and the AIDS virus, but scientists aren't sure if it even works.  According to CNN, after new findings were released today, researchers have halted their examination of Truvada, which is currently being sold as treatment for HIV. 

The pill was being tested on thousands of African women with the AIDS virus, but the partial study results showed that the drug wasn't making things better. The women who take Truvada, made by Gilead Sciences Inc., have an equal chance of contracting HIV as the women who took the "dummy pill." CNN says this finding is surprising since last fall, Truvada research concluded that the pill did help prevent infections in bisexual and gay men when given with condoms, counseling and other prevention practices.  AIDS experts were excited because they saw the pill as a great "slow down" of the epidemic. 

Family Health International, a nonprofit involved in AIDS research, announced the new findings today. The group started the research two years ago and had studied about half of the 3,900 women from Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.  Their study showed that just last week, 56 new HIV infections had occurred. 

No safety problems were discovered with Truvada, but women taking it are more likely to become pregnant than those who are taking the dummy pills. 

Dr. Timothy Mastro of Family Health International found the new discoveries quite shocking:

"That's both a surprising finding and one that we can't readily explain."

The study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development.  Truvada is a combination of two drugs: emtricitabine and tenofovir, also made by Gilead Sciences Inc. 

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