The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Stribild, a new once-a-day HIV treatment from Gilead Sciences that contains four different drugs in one pill, the New York Times reported.
However, AIDS activists are criticizing the price Gilead plans to charge for the drug: about $28,500 annually. The advocates say that the price puts additional pressure on public-health programs. AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein said, “That’s shockingly irresponsible. It’s just unsustainable at these levels.”
Two of the ingredients in Stribild, emtricitabine and tenofovir, are sold as a dual combination known as Truvada. The other two drugs in Stribild—which have not yet been approved for use independently—are elvitegravir, which is a type of drug known as an integrase inhibitor, and cobicistat, which enhances the effect of elvitegravir.