Pre-exposure prophylaxis

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is the use of medications to prevent the spread of disease in people who have not yet been exposed to a disease-causing agent.

In particular, the term PrEP is now synonymous in popular usage with the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention.

[4] A large-scale study in the UK has shown that PrEP remains effective at preventing HIV infection, even when used in uncontrolled environments.

[7][8] However, due to the high levels of non-susceptible SARS-CoV-2 variants present in the US, the FDA announced on 6 January 2023 that tixagevimab/cilgavimab was no longer currently authorized for emergency use in the US.

[9] In March 2024, pemivibart (Pemgarda), a monoclonal antibody drug, received an emergency use authorization from the US FDA to protect certain moderately to severely immunocompromised individuals against COVID-19.