FDA panel recommends Gilead's Truvada as 1st HIV prevention drug

Gilead Sciences Inc.'s HIV treatment Truvada is safe and effective as a way to prevent the AIDS virus, an FDA advisory panel said Thursday. If approved — the Food and Drug Administration is not required to follow an advisory committee's recommendation — Truvada would be the first drug ever approved as a way to prevent HIV. The decision is a victory for Foster City-based Gilead (NASDAQ: GILD) and a defeat for some AIDS activists who worry that the drug could lead to unprotected sex by men having sex with other men.