Question
Will generic dolutegravir affect the UK price for Triumeq?
7 October 2016. Related: Access to treatment, All topics.
What is the monthly cost to the NHS in England and Wales and NHS Scotland of a standard dose of Trimueq?
Will this cost fall as more generic versions of this medication become routinely prescribed?
Answer
Hi
The British National Formulary (BNF) lists the net price for a 30-tab pack of Triumeq as £798.16.
UK drug pricing is complex though. The actual price that the NHS pays is not published but will be less than this, possibly significantly less.
Also, the four different regions of NHS England, might also be paying different prices. This is because each region negotiates separately with the manufacturer rather than agreeing a single national price.
The price will not be affected by the development of generic versions of dolutegravir because dolutegravir is still protected in the UK by a patent. However, because lamivudine (3TC) is already off-patent and abacavir will also soon be off-patent, this should make the price of Triumeq lower than other single pill formulations where all the components are all still protected by a patent.
This section of the i-Base guide to ART has more information about generic drugs in the UK.
https://i-base.info/guides/starting/nhs-changes-and-generic-drugs
Reference: BNF listing for Triumeq. (2016)
https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/formulary/bnf/current/5-infections/53-antiviral-drugs/531-hiv-infection/nucleoside-reverse-transcriptase-inhibitors/abacavir/with-lamivudine-and-dolutegravir/triumeq
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