What is Stribild Used For?

Stribild, a drug used for the control of HIV, has come under scrutiny because the manufacturer of a main ingredient allegedly withheld a safer drug, instead using tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), a more potentially dangerous choice.

What Is Stribild?

Brand name Stribild contains tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), which is also sold in brands such as Atripla, Truvada and Complera. Originally, TDF was sold under the brand name Viread by Gilead Sciences.

Stribild contains four different medications in a single pill form. In addition to TDF, Stribild is made of elvitegravir, cobicistat and emtricitabine. These drugs help block and control the release of different HIV enzymes.

What Is Stribild Used For?

Patients are prescribed Stribild to control the effects of HIV and to help reduce the risk of transmitting HIV, which is the virus that causes AIDS.

What Are Possible Stribild Side Effects?

Patients allege TDF-containing HIV medications such as Stribild cause serious bone problems, including osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Stribild used for HIV control also has been linked to the development of kidney problems, including a rare condition known as Fanconi syndrome.

Some patients have reported that Stribild caused a buildup of lactic acid in the blood, which leads to lactic acidosis. Still other patients report experiencing liver problems while taking Stribild.

Why do people choose Stribild?

According to hivplusmag.com, there are a number of factors that may draw HIV positive patients to take Stribild or other drugs that contain tenofovir. They may present some advantages over other HIV drugs that make them easier to use or may lessen the risk of some frustrating side effects.

AIDS info says that Stribild should not be used in conjunction with other HIV medications because it is a complete regimen for HIV treatment that contains four medications. HIVPlus goes on to note that a drug regimen that contains fewer drugs can be more convenient than one that contains more drugs. 

Additionally, HIVPlus says that Stribild has fewer possible cardiovascular side effects than other HIV medications, so it could be a good option for people who are at higher risk for heart disease.

Other advantages of Stribild include that it may be a good treatment for HIV-2. Medical News Today notes that HIV-1 is the most common type of HIV in the world. However, HIV-2 is a form of HIV that is mostly present in West Africa and is beginning to show up in other parts of the world, including the United States.

Healio says that though there are no approved treatments for HIV-2 in the United States of Europe, drugs like Stribild that contain integrase inhibitors may present a potential reagent for the condition. This development was presented in research published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Though the medication may come with a risk for dangerous side effects, the drug may present a valuable option for some patients.

What Is the Difference Between Osteopenia and Osteoporosis?

In short, osteopenia refers to weakened bones; osteoporosis is a more severe deterioration of the bones that have become porous and fragile.

What Is Fanconi Syndrome?

Fanconi syndrome is a rare kidney disease that causes excessive amounts of glucose, salts, uric acid potassium and some amino acids to be released through the urine, causing chemical and nutritional imbalances.

What Is Lactic Acidosis?

Lactic acidosis occurs when the blood is too full of lactic acid. Symptoms of lactic acidosis may include tiredness, muscle pain, breathing problems, feeling cold in the arms and legs, dizziness or an irregular/fast heartbeat.

What Types of Liver Issues May Stribild Cause?

Liver impairment is a potential side effect of Stribild. If you have yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes, dark-tinted urine, light-colored bowel movements, loss of appetite, nausea or abdominal pain, your liver could be failing to function properly.

Have Lawsuits Been Filed Over The Development of These Adverse Effects?

Yes. At least one lawsuit has been filed by two men in California who allege they have suffered serious side effects because current TDF drugs such as Stribild must be taken in large doses because TDF has a low absorption rate. The men allege the excess TDF clogged the kidneys and damaged their bones. One man’s lawsuit blames TDF for his diagnosis of Fanconi Syndrome as well.

If A Better Drug Is Available, Why Wouldn’t the Manufacturer Introduce it?

According to the lawsuit, a more bioavailable version of tenofovir was developed in 2001. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Gilead, which makes Viread, developed the new tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF) drug, but is accused of hiding data because the company wanted to make the maximum amount of money from TDF before its patent expired.

If the Genvoya, the brand name for TAF, has better bioavailability than TDF-based drugs such as Stribild, then a lower dose of Genvoya could be just as effective as a high dose of Stribild. Patients speculate that a lesser dose should lower the risks of serious side effects because the body would not be trying to process or eliminate so much excess medication.