Sreemoyee Chatterjee
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Written By: Sreemoyee Chatterjee | Published : August 16, 2018 3:38 PM IST
Exercise can be beneficial for HIV patients. © Shutterstock
At home-test for HIV prevention drug may soon be a reality, thanks to this California based start-up, Nurx that has recently launched the first at-home-test of its kind for HIV prevention drug Truvada, according to a recent report by New Haven Register. The pill is estimated to curb infection among those who are at a potential higher risk for HIV by over 90%. Also, the creators claim that this home-test-delivery will bring down the waiting time that patients have to go through to get PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis). While till now very few start-ups were offering quick on demand delivery of prescription medications for HIV, this is the first time that there would be the facility of at-home lab-testing.
Hans Gangeskar, co-founder and CEO of Nurx, reportedly said: "This is a game-changing step towards preventing the spread of HIV. It takes away a key barrier to treatment, and so we really hope to reach the folks that great places like community clinics are still missing."
According to the experts, at present, getting an access to PrEP is the most difficult part. Getting a prescription requires extensive patient visits to the clinic and getting a drug prescribed is also a hard task.
"There's a big drop off in potential PrEP users at the stage when they need to physically show up for lab testing. Getting in the door in the first place is often the hardest part. We're missing whole swaths of people who need access," reportedly said Jessica Horwitz, Nurx's head of clinical development.
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