Dr. Wohl,

You talked about FTC and tenofovir being a great new once-a-day combo. How soon do you think that will become a reality and what would be your choice for a third drug in the combination?

Much appreciated, Lucy

Dear Lucy,

The company that makes tenofovir and now owns FTC, Gilead Sciences, is working hard to develop a combination pill containing both drugs.

It is difficult to predict when a new drug will be available to patients given all the necessary hoops that must be jumped through. I would guess that it will be a couple of years before this is something that will be widely available in the US. It may well be that FTC will become available prior to the release of a co-formulation of the drugs.

The third drug could be any one of a number of choices. Given that both tenofovir and FTC are once a day (as would be a co-formulation of these agents) it makes sense to try and pair them with another once a day drug. Tenofovir and 3TC have been studied along with efavirenz, producing very impressive results. Nevirapine would be another option for some. The soon to come protease inhibitor, atazanavir, is also a reasonable choice to complete the trio. It is certain other combinations will also be studied.

Thanks, DW