GSK’s Dovato (dolutegravir/lamivudine) has grown rapidly in the domestic HIV treatment market but has yet to catch up with Gilead’s Biktarvy (bictegravir/ emtricitabine/temofovir/alafenamide, B/E/TAF).

Dovato has managed to show a sales gap with GSK’s another HIV treatment, Triumeq (dolutegravir/abacavir/lamibudine).

According to data at IQVIA, the sales of Dovato, Triumeq, and Biktarvy stood at 5.2 billion won ($4.1 million), 3.7 billion won, and 12.5 billion won in the third quarter of 2022.

Dovato, released as the first two-drug therapy in one tablet used for HIV-infected people with or without treatment experiences, received insurance benefits in June 2020 and jumped into the market.

Dovato recorded a sale of 2.39 billion in the first quarter of 2021 and has since shown a quarterly growth rate of about 36 percent to 5.2 billion won in the third quarter of 2022.

In contrast, Triumeq, GSK’s three-drug tablet, saw its quarterly sales drop by 11 percent after recording 5.79 billion won in the first quarter of 2021 to 3.7 billion won in the third quarter of 2022.

Dovato's drug price is about 72 percent lower than Triumeq's. Still, the former confirmed its effect with a three-drug therapy of tenefovir-alafenamide-fumarate in adult patients who inhibited virus for six months or more in the TANGO clinical trial, market watchers said.

Dovato caught up with Triqmeq around the fourth quarter of 2021 by recording 4.38 billion won in sales against Triqmeq’s 4.26 billion won and has since steadily widened the gap.

However, it has failed to narrow the gap with Gilead’s Biktarvy, the market leader. Biktarvy’s sales stood at 10.49 billion won in the first quarter of 2021 and have shown about 20 percent growth to 12.51 billion won in the third quarter of 2022.

The quarterly sales gap between Dovato and Biktarvy narrowed from 8.09 billion won in the first quarter of 2021 to 7.31 billion won in the third quarter of 2022. The gap was smallest in the first quarter of 2022, with 6.87 billion won but remained in the 7 billion won range in other quarters.

Biktarvy is also doing well in global markets, based on its conveniences, such as the high tolerance barrier and small pills. As a result, it was the world’s top-selling HIV treatment for the second consecutive year in 2020 and 2021, with yearly sales of $7.26 billion and $8.6 billion.

Evaluate Vantage, a global market surveyor, also said in its 2023 preview that Gilead’s Biktarvy would rise to the 10th place in best-selling medicine in 2023.