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Is Genvoya better than Stribild?

Medically reviewed by Melisa Puckey, BPharm. Last updated on Aug 3, 2023.

Official answer

by Drugs.com

Yes, Genvoya was designed as a new and improved version of Stribild, it has a similar clinical effect on HIV but a better safety profile.

What is the difference between Genvoya and Stribild?

Genvoya and Stribild are both four-drug HIV medications, they have three ingredients the same
(cobicistat 150mg, elvitegravir 150mg, emtricitabine 200mg).
For the fourth ingredient:

  • Genvoya has tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) 10mg and
  • Stribild has tenofovir disoproxil fumerate (TDF) 300mg.

Stribild was the first of these two medicines to be approved by the FDA on 27 August 2012.
Genvoya was approved on 5 November 2015.

Why did they change tenofovir disoproxil fumerate (TDF) to tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) for Genvoya?

  • Tenofovir disoproxil fumerate, which is one of the ingredients in Stribild, can have side effects of being toxic to the kidneys and can reduce bone density.
  • To overcome this issue Genvoya was developed which replaced tenofovir disoproxil fumerate with tenofovir alafenamide which has improved safety for kidney and bones.
  • Genvoya had the same clinical effect as Stribild but had better kidney and bone safety when compared to Stribild.

Bottom line:

  • Genvoya was designed to have the same clinical effect against HIV as Stribild, but have improved renal and bone safety when compared to Stribild.
  • Genvoya contains tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) 10mg with cobicistat 150mg, elvitegravir 150mg and emtricitabine 200mg
  • Stribild contains tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) 300mg with cobicistat 150mg, elvitegravir 150mg and emtricitabine 200mg
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