New HIV drug available on PBS

A new drug available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme offers new options to people living with HIV.
Intelence is the first non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) to be introduced in Australia in almost ten years. PBS-listed from July 1, it offers new possibilities for PLWHIV who have developed an NNRTI-resistant strain of the virus.
-œNNRTIs have been trusted by clinicians and used in antiretroviral therapy for more than a decade, but NNRTI resistance has limited the use of this important class of HIV medication, an HIV doctor from the drug company Tibotec said.
-œIntelence extends the NNRTI class to treatment-experienced patients in Australia, providing them with the potential to suppress their virus to undetectable levels and maintain their health -” the ultimate treatment goal.
The drug has been recommended to antiretroviral experienced patients with a viral load greater than 10,000 and a CD4 cell count of less than 500.
The National Association of People Living With HIV/AIDS praised the addition of Intelence to the PBS list.
-œThis is an important new drug for patients with limited options, and the HIV community is very pleased, NAPWA’s Health, Treatments and Research Portfolio co-convenor, John Daye said.