Drug Database: Tenofovir Alafenamide

What is tenofovir alafenamide?What is tenofovir alafenamide?

What is tenofovir alafenamide?

Tenofovir alafenamide is an antiviral prescription medicine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection (HBV) in adults and children 6 years of age and older who weigh at least 55 lb (25 kg) and who meet certain requirements, as determined by a health care provider.

HBV can be an opportunistic infection (OI) of HIV. An OI is an infection that occurs more frequently or is more severe in people with weakened immune systems—such as people with HIV—than in people with healthy immune systems. To learn more about OIs, read the HIVinfo What is an Opportunistic Infection? fact sheet.

To learn how HIV and HBV are connected, read the HIVinfo HIV and Hepatitis B fact sheet. The fact sheet includes information about how HBV is spread, symptoms of HBV, and treatment options.

Tenofovir alafenamide is also a component of several FDA-approved fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablets for treating HIV infection. The emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide FDC tablet (brand name: Descovy) is also approved for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

How is tenofovir alafenamide used in people with HIV?How is tenofovir alafenamide used in people with HIV?

How is tenofovir alafenamide used in people with HIV? 

The Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV include recommendations on the use of tenofovir alafenamide as part of an antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen to treat both HIV and HBV infection in people with HIV/HBV coinfection.

The recommended uses may not always be consistent with FDA-approved uses of tenofovir alafenamide. See the Guidelines for complete information on recommended uses of tenofovir alafenamide in adults and adolescents with HIV. Tenofovir alafenamide may have other recommended uses not listed above.

What should I tell my health care provider before taking tenofovir alafenamide?What should I tell my health care provider before taking tenofovir alafenamide?

What should I tell my health care provider before taking tenofovir alafenamide?

Before taking tenofovir alafenamide, tell your health care provider:

• If you are allergic to tenofovir alafenamide or any other medicines.
• About any medical conditions you have or have had, such as kidney problems.
• If you are receiving kidney dialysis treatment.
• About anything that could affect your ability to take medicines, such as difficulty swallowing or remembering to take pills.
• If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Talk to your health care provider about the risks and benefits of taking tenofovir alafenamide during pregnancy. The Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV may include other recommendations on the use of tenofovir alafenamide during pregnancy. Please refer to these guidelines for additional information.
• If you are breast/chestfeeding or plan to breast/chestfeed. For people with HIV in the United States, the Guideline recommends speaking with your health care provider to discuss options for feeding your baby. People with suppressed viral load have a less than 1% chance of transmitting HIV to their baby via their own milk.
• About other prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking or plan to take. Tenofovir alafenamide may affect the way other medicines or products work, and other medicines or products may affect how tenofovir alafenamide works. Ask your health care provider if there are interactions between tenofovir alafenamide and the other medicines you take.

Ask your health care provider about possible side effects from tenofovir alafenamide. Your health care provider will tell you what to do if you have side effects.

How should I take tenofovir alafenamide?How should I take tenofovir alafenamide?

How should I take tenofovir alafenamide?

Take tenofovir alafenamide according to your health care provider’s instructions. Your health care provider will tell you how much tenofovir alafenamide to take and when to take it. Before you start tenofovir alafenamide and each time you get a refill, read any printed information that comes with your medicine.

How should tenofovir alafenamide be stored?How should tenofovir alafenamide be stored?

How should tenofovir alafenamide be stored?

• Store tenofovir alafenamide tablets below 86°F (30°C).
• Keep tenofovir alafenamide in the container that it came in and keep the container tightly closed. If the container has a small packet of drying agent (called a desiccant), do not remove it. The desiccant protects the medicine from moisture.
• Do not use tenofovir alafenamide if the original seal over the container opening is broken or missing.
• Throw away tenofovir alafenamide that is no longer needed or expired (out of date). Follow FDA guidelines on how to safely dispose of unused medicine.
• Keep tenofovir alafenamide and all medicines out of reach of children.

Where can I find more information about tenofovir alafenamide?Where can I find more information about tenofovir alafenamide?

Where can I find more information about tenofovir alafenamide?

• Recommendations on the HIV-related uses of tenofovir alafenamide, from the Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV.
• This Patient Version drug summary is based on the following FDA label(s): Tablet. The Patient Package Insert includes information for people taking tenofovir alafenamide.
• The American Hospital Formulary Service (AHFS) Patient Medication Information for tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/tenofovir alafenamide available from MedlinePlus.

• Tenofovir alafenamide-related research studies, from ClinicalTrials.gov. (The ClinicalTrials.gov search can be modified so that you can get results that better match your interests.)