Russians with HIV lose access to most commonly prescribed treatment

Russian HIV patients have lost access to Dolutegravir, the most popular antiretroviral treatment prescribed in the country, state-affiliated business daily RBC reported on Friday.

Dolutegravir is produced by the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and is sold in Russia under the brand name Tivicay.

Pereboi, a website that monitors the availability of HIV and hepatitis treatment in Russia, has reported 20 cases of patients being unable to obtain Tivicay at regional treatment centres since August. The Russian Health Ministry said that the most recent delivery of the treatment had been made in March and the next was due no later than the beginning of December.

RBC said the difficulties arose after two contracts covering the supply of the treatment to Russia’s regions were cancelled in July, as GSK filed a complaint to the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Russian anti-trust regulator, over the Russian distributor’s plans to supply a Dolutegravir analogue produced by a Russian company, despite the treatment being due to remain under patent in Russia until 2029.

A new tender for the supply of Dolutegravir worth 3.2 billion rubles (€31.7 mln) was announced in August, and a new contract was signed with GSK on 2 September, according to RBC.

As of late 2023, 1.2 million Russians were confirmed to be living with HIV, RBC wrote, citing Rospotrebnadzor, the federal agency for consumer rights protection and human well-being. Mass disruptions began hitting Russia’s supply of HIV medication in summer 2023, as patients had difficulty accessing antiretroviral therapy and diagnostic tools in 55 regions, 77% more than the whole of 2022.