Gilead’s latest antiretroviral drug claims lower side effects, but what about the cost?
A new antiretroviral drug will soon be available to Canadian HIV patients, but it comes with a dose of controversy and likely a daunting price tag.
Odefsey, the successor to the older Complera, is the latest in Gilead Sciences’ line of anti-HIV drugs. Gilead also makes Truvada to treat HIV and Truvada for PrEP to lower the risk of HIV transmission.
Health Canada gave Odefsey its stamp of approval in February 2017.
Lower side effects, lower doses
The new pill’s advantage is the compound tenofovir alafenamide (TAF), a new means of delivering the drug tenofovir. Compared to the tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) found in Complera, TAF boasts better “targeting,” delivering the drug efficiently to parts of the body where it is most needed. That means TAF drugs require much lower doses, achieving the same effect while reducing harm to the bones and kidneys.
While Complera packs 300 milligrams of TDF, Odefsey contains only 25 milligrams of TAF. The new drug could be a boon to an aging population of HIV patients, many of whom are taking other medications and are hoping for long golden years on antiretrovirals, free from side effects.
The rollout of Odefsey, however, comes with a big catch: patent law. Odefsey is hitting the market just as Gilead’s patent on TDF drugs is set to expire in December 2017. While the older TDF drugs are likely to plummet in price, Gilead has the patent on TAF locked down until 2022.
The timing is suspicious enough that the San Francisco-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation sued Gilead last year, accusing the company of deliberately delaying the development of TAF to squeeze money out if its customers. The lawsuit failed, but HIV activists have pointed out that the timing is, if not conspiratorial, at least very convenient for Gilead. Activists also point out that Gilead has raised prices on its older drugs, in an apparent bid to convince patients to switch to the new TAF regimes before the company’s patent falls through.