The FINANCIAL — Gilead Sciences, Inc. on March 1 announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Odefsey (emtricitabine 200 mg/rilpivirine 25 mg/tenofovir alafenamide 25 mg or R/F/TAF) for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in certain patients.
Emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide are from Gilead Sciences and rilpivirine is from Janssen Sciences Ireland UC, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen). Odefsey is Gilead’s second TAF-based regimen to receive FDA approval and represents the smallest pill of any single tablet regimen for the treatment of HIV.
Odefsey is indicated as a complete regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in patients 12 years of age and older who have no antiretroviral treatment history and HIV-1 RNA levels less than or equal to 100,000 copies per mL. Odefsey is also indicated as replacement for a stable antiretroviral regimen in those who are virologically-suppressed (HIV-1 RNA less than 50 copies per mL) for at least six months with no history of treatment failure and no known substitutions associated with resistance to the individual components of Odefsey. No dosage adjustment of Odefsey is required in patients with estimated creatinine clearance greater than or equal to 30 mL per minute, according to Gilead.
Odefsey has a boxed warning in its product label regarding the risks of lactic acidosis/severe hepatomegaly with steatosis, and post treatment acute exacerbation of hepatitis B. See below for important safety information.
TAF is a novel targeted prodrug of tenofovir that has demonstrated high antiviral efficacy similar to and at a dose less than one-tenth that of Gilead’s Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, TDF). TAF has also demonstrated improvement in surrogate laboratory markers of renal and bone safety as compared to TDF in clinical trials in combination with other antiretroviral agents. Data show that because TAF enters cells, including HIV-infected cells, more efficiently than TDF, it can be given at a much lower dose and there is 90 percent less tenofovir in the bloodstream.
“As people are living longer with HIV, there is an increasing need to develop new treatments that are tolerable and help address long-term health for patients,” said John C. Martin, PhD, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gilead Sciences. “Odefsey’s safety, efficacy and tolerability profile offers a new treatment option to support the needs of a range of patients and represents Gilead’s commitment to innovation in the field of HIV.”
The approval is supported by a bioequivalence study demonstrating that Odefsey achieved similar drug levels of emtricitabine and TAF in the blood as Genvoya (elvitegravir 150 mg/cobicistat 150 mg/emtricitabine 200 mg/tenofovir alafenamide 10 mg or E/C/F/TAF) and similar drug levels of rilpivirine as Edurant (rilpivirine 25 mg). The safety, efficacy and tolerability of Odefsey is supported by clinical studies of rilpivirine-based therapy (administered as R+F/TDF or R/F/TDF) and F/TAF-based therapy (administered as E/C/F/TAF) in a range of patients with HIV, including treatment-naïve adults and adolescents, virologically suppressed adults who switched from PI-, NNRTI- and INSTI-based regimens and virologically suppressed adults with mild-to-moderate renal impairment.
The Odefsey approval is part of an ongoing development and commercialization agreement between Gilead and Janssen, first established in 2009. Under this agreement, Gilead is responsible for the manufacturing, registration, distribution and commercialization of the product in most countries, while Janssen will distribute it in approximately 17 markets and have co-detailing rights in several key markets, including the United States. The original agreement was established for the development and commercialization of Complera®, marketed as Eviplera® in the European Union, and expanded in 2014 to include Odefsey.
Odefsey does not cure HIV infection or AIDS.
Patient Assistance Programs
Gilead’s U.S. Advancing Access program provides assistance to appropriate patients in the United States who are uninsured, underinsured or who need financial assistance to pay for their medications, including Odefsey.
The program offers information and assistance for patients, including:
Access to agents who can provide information related to coverage and insurance-related questions.
The Advancing Access Copay Coupon Program, which provides co-pay assistance for eligible patients with private insurance who need assistance paying for out-of-pocket medication costs.
The Advancing Access Patient Assistance Program and Truvada® Medication Assistance Program, which will provide Gilead medications at no charge for eligible patients with no other insurance options.
Additionally, Gilead is working closely with the ADAP Crisis Task Force, as the company has done for each of its other HIV medications, to provide discounts to state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) that will help ensure access to Odefsey for patients who receive medications through these programs.
