A new drug to treat HIV just got approved - and it could shake up a $22 billion market

NIAID

Scanning electromicrograph of an HIV-infected T cell.

• The FDA just approved a new combination of drugs to treat HIV.
• The treatment uses two drugs instead of three or more, which has been the standard.
• The new approval could shake up the $22 billion HIV drug market.

The FDA approved a two-drug regimen for HIV for the first time on Tuesday.

The pill, which contains dolutegravir with rilpivirine, is made by ViiV, the specialist HIV company majority owned by GlaxoSmithKline, that has Pfizer and Japanese pharmaceutical company Shionogi as shareholders.

Up until now, people living with HIV suppress the virus with a regimen of three or four pills. Keeping the amount of HIV in the blood low is key for suppressing symptoms of the virus. And the hope is that by using fewer drugs, there won't be as many side effects for patients.

"Limiting the number of drugs in any HIV treatment regimen can help reduce toxicity for patients," Dr. Debra Birnkrant, director of the division of antiviral products at the FDA said in a press release.

The approval could shake up the $22 billion HIV drug market over the next year, as another company tries to upgrade its system as well.

On May 30, Gilead said it found in four late-stage studies that its its drug, bictegravir, wasn't inferior to ViiV's dolutegravir. Gilead hopes to pair bictegravir with emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide, drugs that are considered the "backbone" of HIV treatments. Gilead plans to file its drug regimen for approval in 2017.