Govt to fund new HIV treatments

File photo / Supplied

The fight against drug-resistant strains of the HIV virus has received a boost from Pharmac, with two new treatments to get government funding from next month.

Pharmaceutical funding body Pharmac today announced it would fund darunavir and etravirinem, branded as Prezista and Intelence, from November 1.

Both are anti-retroviral drugs used to combat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the infection that can lead to Aids.

Pharmac medical director Peter Moodie said the drugs were welcome additions to the range of funded HIV treatments.

"We are now seeing strains of HIV that are resistant to multiple drug therapies. This makes the disease increasingly difficult to treat, and underscores the need for further treatment options," he said.

The two drugs are most effective when used in combination, while darunavir can also be effective when combined with another recently-funded treatment, raltegravir, in patients who have already undergone extensive treatment.

The drugs would give doctors further opportunity to tailor HIV treatments to their patients and find the optimal combination for controlling the disease, Dr Moodie said.

The funding is part of a multi-product agreement with pharmaceutical company Janssen-Cilag that includes two other products - dopinem, an antibiotic used mainly in hospitals, and methylphenidate, known as Concerta, which is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Pharmac already funds 17 HIV treatments, including combination products, costing $17.8 million in the year to June. The new agreement will increase spending by $1.6m over the next five years.

- NZPA