New cheaper, safer HIV drug to be availed in September

Jun 28, 2018

“The drug is more efficacious; it achieves faster viral load suppression and it is less prone to resistance."

PIC: HIV has no known cure so far, but a combination of medicines has been shown to help people with HIV live longer. (Photo used for representation purposes)

HEALTH

KAMPALA - The Government is set to roll out a new drug considered cheaper and with less adverse side effects for persons living with HIV.

The drug, known as dolutegravir, is a generic version of an advanced HIV drug and rolled out for use as a first-line treatment among patients taking anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs).

Dr Joshua Musinguzi, the AIDS Control Programme manager at the health ministry, told New Vision Tuesday that the new drug was expected to be on the market in September.

"The drug is more efficacious; it achieves faster viral load suppression and it is less prone to resistance. We finalised the supply plan and we hope to roll it out by the end of September," he disclosed.

The drug will be taken together with another combination of tenofavir and lamivudine and is expected to reduce the burden of swallowing multiple pills for people who are on one same treatment for a long time.

The introduction of the latest HIV drug is supported by the US government through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Global Fund and the Government of Uganda.

The drug comes at a relatively lower cost of $6.5 (about sh24,986) monthly per person, down from $6.9 (about sh26,524) charged by manufacturers of the current drugs, although some have lowered their rates.

Dolutegravir sold under the brand name tivicay, belongs to a class of HIV drugs known as integrase inhibitors, which block an HIV enzyme called integrase. Blocking the enzyme helps prevent HIV from multiplying, thereby reducing the viral load (the amount of HIV in the body).

Dolutegravir was first approved in the US in 2013. Kenya was the first African country to roll out the drug.

HIV has no known cure so far, but a combination of medicines has been shown to help people with HIV live longer, reduce the risk of HIV transmission and engage in productive work.

Dolutegravir has been used in several high-income countries as the drug of choice for HIV patients for close to half a decade, but its high cost has made it out of reach for most people in Africa.

Controversy

Although hailed as a ‘magic' pill, the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency issued alerts about dolutegravir after it was linked to birth defects.

It followed a study in Botswana that found four cases of neural tube defects in babies born to mothers who became pregnant while taking the drug. Neural tube defects are birth defects that can occur early in pregnancy when the spinal cord, brain and related structures do not form properly.

The World Health Organisation issued an advisory against using the drug during pregnancy or breastfeeding due to insufficient data regarding its safety and efficacy in those conditions.

Musinguzi told New Vision that dolutegravir would not be prescribed to HIV-positive women seeking to become pregnant and those who are not using long-term contraception.

"We are reviewing guidelines to ensure that only women of child-bearing age who are on long-term contraceptives or older women in menopause, will receive the drug," he explained.

According to Musinguzi, only a small portion of women living with HIV will be eligible to receive the latest drug, implying that it will be available to about half of all those currently on treatment.