Researchers studying the effectiveness of Gilead's "miracle drug" Truvada have reported the drug's most dramatic success results to date, finding that daily doses reduced HIV-infection rates by 86% among at-risk gay men.

The study, conducted by PROUD in England, offered a regular Truvada regimen (PrEP) to a portion of 545 participants across the country. Over 12 months, compared with a control group of men who were not yet on PrEP, researchers found that men who began taking the drug before engaging in risky behavior were eight times less likely to contract HIV:

In the study there were 1.3 new infections per 100 person-years in the group given PrEP immediately, and 8.9 per 100 person-years in the group who were not yet on PrEP. The 86% protection from daily PrEP reported by the study is the highest reported from any randomised controlled trial of PrEP to date.

As the HRC points out, a similar IPERGAY study out of France and Canada has found the same results to hold even when PrEP is used "on-demand," or taken irregularly, immediately before and after sexual intercourse.

“These findings confirm the unprecedented promise of PrEP - the promise of a real chance to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic through aggressive prevention of new HIV infections,” said Jeff Krehely, Vice President and Chief Foundation Officer at HRC. “Hopefully, studies like these will continue to demonstrate that the medical community must embrace these life-changing regimens, and that affordable access to PrEP by those most vulnerable to HIV infection must be a priority.”