Japan’s health ministry has approved a drug used to treat HIV for prevention purposes as well, U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences announced on Wednesday, marking the first time that such medication has been green-lit for use as preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the country.
The drug, known by its brand name Truvada, is also the first drug approved in Japan to both treat and prevent HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Truvada, developed by Gilead Sciences, has been widely used across the world for preventing HIV infections for over a decade. First approved for prevention in the United States in 2012, it has since gained the approval of dozens of jurisdictions, including the European Union, South Korea, China and Taiwan.
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