After the USA, the single tablet preparation Triumeq is now also authorised in Europe for the treatment of HIV in adults and adolescents aged twelve years and over and weighing at least 40 kg.
As the British pharmaceutical company ViiV Healthcare announcedthe European Commission has granted authorisation for the EU-wide distribution of the medicine. It thus followed the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) from June of this year.
The drug is a combination tablet consisting of the integrase inhibitor dolutegravir and the two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) abacavir and lamivudine. All other combination preparations with three substances effective against HIV in a single, once-daily tablet contain the NRTI tenofovir, which cannot be used by patients with kidney problems.
However, Triumeq also has contraindications: Regardless of ethnicity, the presence of the HLA-B*5701 marker should be ruled out by genetic testing before starting Triumeq treatment, as with all abacavir-containing products, as there is a risk of a hypersensitivity reaction (HSR) in these patients.
