Home Testing Kit for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV

PrEP@Home: Testing Kit for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV

Application

A convenient at-home testing kit designed to increase compliance with required testing for subjects on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV.

Key Benefits

Combines all required tests for maintaining PrEP into an at-home test kit.
Can increase compliance for patients currently on PrEP.
Decreases patient's testing cost and time associated with quarterly visits to the doctor.

Market Summary

Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a preventative strategy that uses anti-retroviral medication to lower the risk of acquiring HIV for high risk populations. PrEP may reduce the chances of sexually transmitted HIV infection by up to 92% when treatment is consistent (not missing a daily dose) and may reduce the risk of HIV infection among those who use injected drugs by up to 70%. But people who use PrEP must commit to taking the drug every day and seeing their health care provider for follow-up visits every 3 months. These follow-up visits consist of both STI and HIV tests, creatinine tests and behavioral assessment with support as needed for adherence, risk reduction, and medication tolerance. There is a need to simplify this ongoing monitoring process and make it more convenient for the patient.

Technical Summary

Quarterly testing while on PrEP consists of both STI and HIV tests as well as biannual creatinine tests to assess kidney function. PrEP @ Home is designed to simplify the required testing and increase compliance by allowing subjects on PrEP to acquire their samples at home and mail in for testing. PrEP @ Home reduces the number of required in-person visits from four visits a year to only one annual visit. The kit uses laboratory and behavioral assessments recommended by CDC for PrEP follow-up, and current kits are received at the Emory Center for AIDS Research microbiology laboratory for testing.

Developmental Stage

The custom kit has been developed and deployed in a test population consisting of 55 participants.
95% of patients successfully completed the at-home test and renewed their PrEP prescriptions without an office visit.

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