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news.Roche has decided to discontinue selling its older HIV medication Fortovase next year, as clinical demand for the drug has declined significantly due to the availability of a new formulation of Invirase.
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Invirase (saquinavir mesylate) will remain on the market in both 500mg tablets and 200mg capsules, while Fortovase (saquinavir) will be discontinued during the first quarter of 2006.
According to Roche, the new Invirase 500mg tablet offers patients key advantages over Fortovase, including lower bill burden, improved gastrointestinal (GI) tolerability, smaller capsule/tablet size and no need for refrigeration.
In addition, Invirase boosted with ritonavir was listed as a recommended component of initial antiretroviral regimens in the most recent International AIDS Society-USA antiretroviral guidelines.
“The Fortovase formulation no longer meets the demands of convenience and tolerability expected by patients today,” said Frederick Schmid, vice president of virology/HIV at Roche. “We have determined that it is time to focus our resources on the availability of Invirase, which offers significant improvements in convenience and GI tolerance.”
The move has something of an ‘end of an era’ feel about it, however, as the introduction of Invirase as the first HIV protease inhibitor back in 1995 represented a major milestone in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.