Frontier Biotechnologies and Pahang Pharmacy have signed a partnership agreement for the supply, distribution and marketing of Aikening® in Malaysia. Aikening® is now available in Malaysia.
Frontier Biotechnologies announced in September 2022 that the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency of Malaysia (NPRA) has approved Aikening® (albuvirtide for injection), a once-weekly antiretroviral treatment for HIV-1 in treatment-experienced adults 18 years and above, with HIV-1 replication despite ongoing antiretroviral therapy (ART).
There are 82,000 adults, aged 15 years and over, living with HIV (PLHIV) in Malaysia and 37,000, less than half of them, have suppressed viral loads. 1600 deaths due to AIDS among adults aged 15 and above have been reported1. There is still room to help more PLHIV whose HIV-1 replication is not well suppressed despite ongoing ART.
On 16 March 2023, a hybrid scientific meeting was attended by over 100 medical professionals across various states in Malaysia. Professor Zhu Biao, Deputy Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Chief Physician at The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, delivered an online lecture, titled “Review of Albuvirtide: a new, long-acting infusion antiretroviral therapy for HIV during challenging times”.
The scientific meeting raised further awareness of Aikening® among medical professionals in Malaysia and its potential applications in special populations of PLHIV with unmet medical needs.
About Aikening®
Aikening® is a new chemical entity discovered, developed and manufactured by Frontier Biotechnologies.
In May 2018, Aikening® received a new drug certificate from the State Drug Administration in China. In October 2018, Aikening® was included as one of the major antiretroviral drugs available in the Chinese guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS (2018) issued by the Chinese Medical Association's Infectious Diseases Unit and the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In December 2020, Aikening® was enlisted as an exclusive patented product in the National List of Essential Medical Insurance, Industrial Injury Insurance and Maternity Insurance Drugs (2020).
Aikening® in combination with other antiretroviral treatment is effective for both major and drug-resistant viral strains. In a real-world setting, Aikening® was widely accepted as one of the ARTs for patients with high unmet needs such as HIV hospitalization, critically-ill, liver impairment, kidney disease and multiple drug-resistant patients due to the new mode of administration (once-weekly injection), lower pill burden, fast onset of action, high resistance barrier and its well-tolerated safety profile.
Reference: 1AIDS info, Global data on HIV epidemiology and response; https://aidsinfo.unaids.org/ Accessed on 24 March 2023.