GSK Korea said that Dovato, its first two-drug regimen in a single pill as the long-term treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), would begin to receive reimbursement from June.

Dovato is the first single tablet combining dolutegravir (DTG) with lamivudine (3TC) to treat HIV-1 infection.

Dolutegravir, an integrase inhibitor (INI), and lamivudine, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), prevent viral DNA from being integrated into the genetic material of human immune cells (T cells). At the same time, they block the DNA conversion of the viral RNA, effectively inhibiting viral growth.

Patients eligible for reimbursement include HIV-infected people with AIDS-related symptoms, those with CD4 levels less than 350/㎟ or the viral load of 100,000 Copies/ml or more, and those who need the treatment even if they do not show AIDS-related symptoms as judged by doctors.

The government will also reimburse pregnant women, newborns born to infected mothers, medical workers exposed to HIV, and spouses of infected persons for preventive purposes.

In March, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety issued a sales permit for Dovato in the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults and adolescents over 12 years of age and weighing more than 40 kilograms with no known or suspected substitutions associated with resistance to the individual components of Dovato.

With the insurance benefit, the drug’s purchasing price has been set at 18,528 won ($15) per tablet, or 555,840 won a month.

The cost is the same as the drug price of Tivicay, a single component HIV-treatment, but cheaper than the recent three-component HIV-treatment such as Triumeq and Biktarvy.

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