FDA Approves 4-In-1 HIV Med

The FDA has approved Gilead's latest combination once-a-day HIV pill which has been known as "the Quad." Via FDA press release:

Stribild contains two previously approved HIV drugs plus two new drugs, elvitegravir and cobicistat. Elvitegravir is an HIV integrase strand transfer inhibitor, a drug that interferes with one of the enzymes that HIV needs to multiply. Cobicistat, a pharmacokinetic enhancer, inhibits an enzyme that metabolizes certain HIV drugs and is used to prolong the effect of elvitegravir. The combination of emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, approved in 2004 and marketed as Truvada, blocks the action of another enzyme that HIV needs to replicate in a person’s body. Together, these drugs provide a complete treatment regimen for HIV infection. “Through continued research and drug development, treatment for those infected with HIV has evolved from multi-pill regimens to single-pill regimens,” said Edward Cox, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Office of Antimicrobial Products in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “New combination HIV drugs like Stribild help simplify treatment regimens.”

RELATED: The FDA recently approved Gilead's Truvada as a daily HIV preventive for high risk groups. As noted above, Truvada is part of the newly-approved medication. Last month the FDA also approved an in-home HIV testing kit. That item reportedly comes on the market in October.