House Panel Probes Trump’s PrEP Deal With Gilead

The Washington Post reports:

The chairman of the House Oversight Committee is expanding the committee’s review of Gilead Science’s patent claims relating to Truvada for PrEP, the company’s drug that prevents HIV infection.

In a letter released Thursday, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) demanded emails and other information from Gilead about negotiations that led to Gilead’s pledge to donate free doses of the drug for President Trump’s effort to eradicate HIV by 2030.

Cummings also asked Gilead for details of contact with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies over its claim that U.S. government patents are invalid for Truvada for PrEP, as the preventive use is known. The committee appeared to be asking whether there was any quid pro quo in the deal to provide the free HIV medication.