FDA Issues Safety Announcement About Important Drug Interactions Between Boceprevir (Victrelis) and Certain Ritonavir-Boosted HIV Protease Inhibitor Drugs
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is notifying healthcare professionals and patients that drug interactions between the hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor Victrelis (boceprevir) and certain ritonavir-boosted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors (atazanavir, lopinavir, darunavir) can potentially reduce the effectiveness of these medicines when they are used together.
“Patients should not stop taking any of their medicines without talking to their healthcare professional. Patients should contact their healthcare professional if they have any questions or concerns.
“Healthcare professionals who have started patients infected with both chronic HCV and HIV on Victrelis and antiretroviral therapy containing a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor should closely monitor patients for HCV treatment response and for potential HCV and HIV virologic rebound.
“A drug interaction study showed that taking boceprevir (Victrelis) with ritonavir (Norvir) in combination with atazanavir (Reyataz) or darunavir (Prezista), or with Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) reduced the blood levels of the HIV medicines and boceprevir in the body … . FDA will be updating the Victrelis drug label to include information about these drug interactions.”
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