In the contracted drug quantity, a yardstick of the prescription rate by Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), GSK’s HIV treatment Dovato (dolutegravir/lamivudine) has surpassed Gilead’s Biktarvy (bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide, B/F/TAF).
According to the integrated bidding announcement of regular drug contracts and their unit prices disclosed by SNUH last month, reference contract quantities determined by the previous year’s usage were 110,470 tablets for Dovato and 102,840 for Biktarvy.
In 2022, SNUH’s reference quantity for Dovato totaled 62,202, but it increased to 110,470 this year due to additional demands.
The upper limit for bidding price was 18,527 won ($14.16) per tablet for Dovato and 23,900 won for Biktarvy.
Dovato is the first two-drug treatment that can be used by not only HIV-infected people with no treatment experiences but also those who have used existing treatments. In addition, Dovato has received insurance benefits since June 2020. Dovato is the follow-up drug of GSK’s three-substance tablet, Triumeq (dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine).
GSK conducted the TANGO study to confirm the effects of Dovato’s replacement administration in patients who have maintained virus suppression for six months or more with the three-drug therapy and proved the same effects as the three-drug therapy after replacement administration.
Biktarvy had dominated the market since July 2019, when the treatment began to receive insurance benefits. Biktarvy is a drug with enhanced treatment effects by adding bictegravir, adding integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) to the HIV treatment of the emtricitabine +tenofovir + alafenamide compound.
Unlike other HIV treatments, it has the advantage of using for patients with kidney diseases without controlling doses and managing HIV diseases with only daily administration, drawing the market’s attention.
In global markets, Biktarvy remains a frontrunner. Biktarvy was the best-selling drug for two consecutive years from 2020. Its global sales totaled $7.26 billion in 2020 and $8.6 billion in 2021.
Biktarvy is also a leader in the Korean market, but Dovato is chasing it closely.
According to market surveyor IQVIA, Dovato’s sales stood at 2.4 billion won in the first quarter of 2021, but its quarterly sales jumped to about 5.2 billion in the July-September period of 2022, recording a 117 percent growth in less than two years, and the steep growth rate was also confirmed by the SNUH’s regular drug contract quantities.