Roche announced this week that it will discontinue production of two of its antiretroviral products, Hivid (zalcitabine, ddC) and Fortovase (soft gel saquinavir) in 2006 or shortly after.
Hivid, the third nucleoside analogue to be licensed, fell out of favour as soon as an alternative to the drug became available in 1995. Hivid’s unpopularity amongst physicians and patients was due to the high frequency of peripheral neuropathy in ddC-treated patients – 17-31% of patients taking the drug in early studies developed the side effect over variable follow-up periods. Hivid is no longer recommended as a preferred component of combination therapy in the United States or United Kingdom, and is not recommended as a component of regimens for resource-limited settings by the World Health Organization.
Fortovase, says Roche, has been superseded by the development of a 500mg Invirase tablet that is better tolerated when boosted with ritonavir.
Roche says that it is giving plenty of advance warning so that physicians and patients have plenty of time to consider alternative options and move onto them.