Roche announced today that it has decided to discontinue the sale and distribution of Fortovase (saquinavir), as clinical demand for the drug has declined significantly due to the availability of a new formulation of Invirase (saquinavir mesylate), which increasingly has become the preferred formulation of saquinavir.
Invirase will remain on the market in both 500 mg tablets and 200 mg capsules, while Fortovase will be discontinued during the first quarter of 2006. The removal of Fortovase by Roche is completely voluntary and is not due to safety or efficacy issues.
The new Invirase 500 mg tablet offers patients key advantages over Fortovase, including lower bill burden, improved gastrointestinal tolerability, smaller capsule/tablet size and no need for refrigeration. In addition, Invirase boosted with ritonavir was listed as a recommended component of initial antiretroviral regimens in the most recent International AIDS Society-USA antiretroviral guidelines. The guidelines, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, gave boosted Invirase the highest position in the guidelines.