--- title: HIV Drug Descovy By Gilead Sciences Gets FDA Approval description: The FDA has approved a new drug for the disease canonical: https://time.com/4285040/hiv-drug-descovy-gilead-sciences/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-07T14:53:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:57.172Z article:section: Health og:title: HIV Drug Descovy By Gilead Sciences Gets FDA Approval og:description: The FDA has approved a new drug for the disease og:url: https://time.com/4285040/hiv-drug-descovy-gilead-sciences/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: HIV Drug Descovy By Gilead Sciences Gets FDA Approval twitter:description: The FDA has approved a new drug for the disease twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # New HIV Drug Approved by FDA > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Despite AIDS Research And Education, Some Myths Still Remain [Watch (HLS stream): Despite AIDS Research And Education, Some Myths Still Remain](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ShFuFJT0.m3u8) (1:43)  _Published 2015-12-01. Researchers have shared more information about HIV/AIDs than ever before and yet, some people still believe old myths._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Apr 7, 2016 2:53 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Apr 7, 2016 2:53 PM UTC A new treatment for [HIV](http://time.com/4125210/hiv-rate-lowest-since-2000/) has been approved by federal authorities. The drug Descovy, which is made by Gilead Sciences, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the company [announced this week](http://www.gilead.com/news/press-releases/2016/4/us-food-and-drug-administration-approves-descovy-emtricitabine-tenofovir-alafenamide-gileads-third-tafbased-hiv-therapy). The combination drug is a daily pill that uses two already approved drugs for the disease. The drug can be given at a lower dose compared to other treatments, including the company’s other drug Viread, because it can enter drugs more efficiently. “As the first new HIV treatment backbone approved by the FDA in more than a decade, Descovy represents an important evolution in HIV care,” the company said in the statement. The drug has side effects like lactic acid buildup in the blood stream and aggravated prior hepatitis B infection. The drug is [estimated](http://fortune.com/2016/04/05/gilead-next-gen-hiv/) to reach $1 billion in sales. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4285040/hiv-drug-descovy-gilead-sciences/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4285040/hiv-drug-descovy-gilead-sciences/"},"headline":"New HIV Drug Approved by FDA","datePublished":"2016-04-07T14:53:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:57.172Z","description":"The FDA has approved a new drug for the disease","url":"https://time.com/4285040/hiv-drug-descovy-gilead-sciences/","keywords":["medicine"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicine/","name":"medicine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4285040/hiv-drug-descovy-gilead-sciences/","name":"New HIV Drug Approved by FDA"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Despite AIDS Research And Education, Some Myths Still Remain","description":"Researchers have shared more information about HIV/AIDs than ever before and yet, some people still believe old myths.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ShFuFJT0/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-01T17:11:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ShFuFJT0.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4285040/hiv-drug-descovy-gilead-sciences/","duration":"PT1M43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4285040/hiv-drug-descovy-gilead-sciences/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```