Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) has announced that the FDA has approved its recent combination of drugs made to treat HIV.
The new HIV treatment from the company that the FDA has approved is called Odefsey®. It is the combination of different drugs in different drugs which include Rilpivirine, Emtricitabine and Tenofovir Alafenamide. The proportions of the cocktails were carefully mixed to produce a cocktail that was designed to combat the HIV-1 infection.
The three components of the drug cocktail were made by the combined efforts of Gilead Sciences and Janssen Sciences Ireland UC which is one of the subsidiary firms of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). Odefsey is the second TAF-based HIV treatment drug to receive approval from the FDA. It is also the smallest pill available for the same condition.
The company claims that the drug is a safe treatment for HIV patients who are more than 12 years old and those who have not had any antiretroviral treatment in their past. It is also ideal in cases where HIV-1 RNA levels have not increased to more than 100,000 copies per Ml. Gilead Sciences also introduced the drug as a stable antiretroviral treatment for patients whose viral levels have been suppressed for at least six months and especially in those who have not had cases of treatment failure in the past.
The company has also warned patients about various risks associated with consuming the drug including acute hepatitis B and lactic acidosis. The company believes that the drug might be the highest earner among the existing HIV treatment drugs. Gilead Sciences has estimated that Odefsey will attain sales worth $1.6 billion by 2020. The company expects competition from the other pharmaceutical rivals such as J&J, ViiV Healthcare, which is owned by Glaxo and Pfizer who are working on their own HIV treatment drugs.
However, Gilead Sciences is confident that its treatment compound will compete effectively with what the rivals are creating and perhaps Odefsey might emerge as a better performer.
