- Written by GlobalData's infectious disease analyst, Dr Brad Tebbets.

On Monday, the food and drug administration (FDA) approved Gilead’s Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent the spread of HIV to high-risk, healthy individuals (discussed in a previous GlobalData Expert Insight,Gilead Receives FDA Approval for Truvada Use as a Preventative Measure against HIV Infection). ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture between pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, hopes that its anti-HIV drug Selzentry (maraviroc) can also diversify its indication from therapeutic to prophylactic. The national institute of health (NIH) has funded a clinical trial entitled Novel Exploration of Therapeutics for PrEP (NEXT PrEP) to compare the following HIV PrEP therapies: Selzentry, Selzentry plus emtricitabine, Selzentry plus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, Truvada, and a placebo.