Gilead to Market Truvada as PrEP on Snapchat, Tumblr and Dating Sites

About 90,000 people in the United States are taking Truvada to prevent getting HIV.

February 14, 2017

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Tumblr, Snapchat, dating sites and similar platforms will be part of Gilead Sciences’ marketing strategy to increase awareness of its daily pill Truvada as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, to prevent getting HIV, reports MM&M.

Gilead, which manufactures the HIV med, announced the move in a call with investors. The company noted that San Francisco has been able to lower its HIV rate, thanks in part to PrEP, and Gilead hopes that it can replicate that success across the nation by raising awareness of Truvada, particularly among those who aren’t engaged in health care.

“Gilead has been encouraged to play a more prominent role in PrEP education and has done so via the hiring of a field-based team,” Kevin Young, Gilead’s COO, told investors, according to MM&M.

Gilead CEO John Milligan has recently mentioned that the company would build a U.S.-based sales force as a way to increase its commercial investment in Truvada as PrEP.

The company said that between 80,000 and 90,000 people in the United States were taking Truvada as PrEP at the end of 2016. Sales of the med, which is also taken by some people with HIV, rose 15 percent to $2.38 billion in 2016, up from $2.05 billion in 2015. Last year, the company’s overall revenue was $7.3 billion, down from $8.5 billion in 2015, mostly because of a drop in sales revenue of its hepatitis C meds.

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