Long-acting prescriptions and therapy for HIV-1 from market launch to the present in Germany (May 2021 to December 2023)
In Europe, the combination of cabotegravir (CAB) with rilpivirine (RPV) has been approved as a dual injection long-acting (LA) therapy for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infections in adults since December 2020. Studies have shown that between 36% and 61% of people living with HIV (PLWHIV) prefer LA therapy. However, there are no real-world data on the number of people receiving LA therapy, in Germany or internationally.
The aim of this study was to assess the current situation and trends in usage of LA therapy for the treatment of HIV-1 in Germany.Based on pharmacy prescription data derived from Insight Health, the monthly number of prescriptions for oral CAB, CAB-LA, and RPV-LA over the entire period of availability in Germany was analyzed and evaluated (May 2021 to December 2023).
The number of 1st and 2nd initiation injections and subsequent maintenance injections was calculated on the basis of the prescriptions for oral CAB initiation.The bimonthly schedule resulted in two growing cohorts from September 2021 with an estimated 14,523 CAB-LA prescriptions over the entire period. Accordingly, in December 2023, there were approximately 1,364 people living with HIV (PLWHIV) receiving LA therapy, of whom 1,318 were receiving maintenance therapy. Only treatments with bimonthly regimens were carried out.Extrapolating toAccounting for people not covered by statutory health insurance (~13%), a total of ~1,600 PLWHIV were receiving LA therapy in Germany in December 2023.The average rounded annual cost of therapy in 2023 was €11,940 (maintenance therapy with initiation) and €10,950 (maintenance therapy without initiation).
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