Biktarvy® (bictegravir, emtricitabine, tenofovir alafenamide)
Drug Interactions
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is providing this letter in response to your unsolicited request for medical information. It is not promotional. It is intended for a US audience 18 years or older.
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is providing this letter in response to your unsolicited request for medical information. It is not promotional. It is intended for a US audience 18 years or older.
BIKTARVY® (bictegravir, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alfenamide)
What medications does BIKTARVY interact with?
This information is provided in response to your question. It is not treatment advice on how to use BIKTARVY. Please discuss this question and others you have about your medical condition or treatment with your healthcare provider.
Download the BIKTARVY Patient Information for more details, including approved use(s) and important warnings: https://www.gilead.com/-/media/files/pdfs/medicines/hiv/biktarvy/biktarvy_patient_pi.pdf
The short answer
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- Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, including if you:
- Take epilepsy medications. If you take certain epilepsy medications, your healthcare provider may switch you to another epilepsy medication.
- Take medications or dietary supplements containing aluminum, magnesium, calcium, or iron. Please see Table 4 and Figures 1 and 2 of this document for instructions on how to take BIKTARVY together with these medications or dietary supplements.
- For some medications, no interactions with BIKTARVY have been found in clinical studies. A list of these medications can be found in Table 5 of this document.
- You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for a list of medicines that interact with BIKTARVY.
- Do not start a new medicine without telling your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider can tell you if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with other medicines.
- Take BIKTARVY exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it.
- If you have any questions about a medication or supplement that is not mentioned here, please talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist.
What is the most important information I should know about BIKTARVY?
Some medications have important warnings that are designed to alert you of serious or life-threatening risks that come with taking the medication.
BIKTARVY has an important warning for: Worsening of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Your healthcare provider will test you for HBV before or when you start treatment with BIKTARVY. If you have HBV and take BIKTARVY, your HBV may get worse (flare-up) if you stop taking BIKTARVY. A “flare-up” is when your HBV suddenly returns in a worse way than before.
- Do not run out of BIKTARVY. Refill your prescription or talk to your healthcare provider before your BIKTARVY is all gone.
- Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider.
- If you stop taking BIKTARVY, your healthcare provider will need to check your health often and do blood tests regularly for several months to check your liver, and may give you a medicine to treat hepatitis B. Tell your healthcare provider about any new or unusual symptoms you may have after you stop taking BIKTARVY.
Who is BIKTARVY for?
BIKTARVY is a prescription medicine that is used without other human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) medicines to treat HIV-1 in adults and children who weigh at least 31 pounds (14 kg):
- who have not received HIV-1 medicines in the past, or
- who have received HIV-1 medicines in the past, or to replace their current HIV-1 medicines, and whose healthcare provider determines that they meet certain requirements.
HIV-1 is the virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
It is not known if BIKTARVY is safe and effective in children who weigh less than 31 pounds (14 kg).
What important information should I share with my Healthcare Provider about my medications?
Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Some medicines may interact with BIKTARVY. Keep a list of your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.
- You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for a list of medicines that interact with BIKTARVY.
- Do not start a new medicine without telling your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider can tell you if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with other medicines
Can BIKTARVY be taken with other HIV-1 medications?
| BIKTARVY is a complete HIV-1 therapy and should not be taken together with any other HIV-1 medications. |
Which medications and supplements interact with BIKTARVY?
The tables below contain a list of the prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, and dietary supplements that either have known interactions with BIKTARVY or for which medically important interactions are expected.
| If taken together with BIKTARVY, some of these products may stop BIKTARVY from working as well. This may cause an increase in the amount of HIV-1 in your blood. The virus in your body may develop resistance to BIKTARVY and become harder to treat. You may have side effects or changes in your health if you take some of these products together with BIKTARVY. |
Please speak to your healthcare provider if you take any of the medications listed in the tables below before starting treatment with BIKTARVY. | |
Table 1. Do not take BIKTARVY with the following medications:
Type of product | Product name | Clinical guidance from the BIKTARVY US Prescribing Information |
Prescription medication to support a normal heartbeat in people who have an irregular heartbeat. This is also called an antiarrhythmic | Dofetilide | BIKTARVY and dofetilide should not be taken together because this may cause an increase in dofetilide levels in the blood that can lead to serious and/or life-threatening medical conditions |
Prescription antibiotics to treat or prevent tuberculosis | Rifampin | BIKTARVY and rifampin cannot be taken together because rifampin may stop BIKTARVY from working as well |
Table 2. It is not recommended that you take BIKTARVY together with the following medications:
Type of product | Product name | Clinical guidance from the BIKTARVY US Prescribing Information |
Prescription antibiotics to treat or prevent tuberculosis | Rifabutin
| Taking BIKTARVY together with rifabutin or rifapentine is not recommended because it may stop BIKTARVY from working as well |
| Rifapentine | |
Herbal product | St. John’s wort | Taking BIKTARVY together with St. John’s wort is not recommended because it may stop BIKTARVY from working as well |
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Table 3. The following medications have known interactions with BIKTARVY:
Product name | Clinical guidance from the BIKTARVY US Prescribing Information | |
Prescription medications to treat epilepsy. These are also called anticonvulsants | Carbamazepine | These epilepsy medications may stop BIKTARVY from working as well
Your healthcare provider may switch you to a different epilepsy medication |
Oxcarbazepine | ||
Phenobarbital | ||
| Phenytoin | |
Prescription medication to treat diabetes | Metformin | Taking BIKTARVY together with metformin may increase the amount of metformin in your body |
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Table 4. Interactions with BIKTARVY and medications containing aluminum, magnesium, calcium or iron:
Type of product | Product name | Clinical guidance from the BIKTARVY US Prescribing Information |
Medications or dietary supplements containing certain minerals, including calcium, iron, aluminum, and magnesium | Antacids or laxatives containing aluminum or magnesium |
Antacids containing aluminum or magnesium: Take BIKTARVY at least 2 hours before or 6 hours after taking antacids containing aluminum or magnesium Supplements or antacids containing calcium or iron: Take BIKTARVY and supplements or antacids containing calcium or iron together with food Please see Figure 2 If you are pregnant and take supplements or antacids that contain aluminum, magnesium, iron or calcium, talk to your healthcare provider about how to take BIKTARVY along with these supplements or antacids
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Supplements or antacids containing calcium or iron | ||
Sucralfate | ||
| Buffered medications |
Figure 1: If you take supplements or antacids that contain aluminum or magnesium:
Figure 2: If you take supplements or antacids that contain iron or calcium:
Can I take BIKTARVY with other medications that can affect my kidneys?
| Before starting treatment with BIKTARVY, please tell your healthcare provider if you have problems with your kidneys or if you are taking NSAIDs. NSAIDs are medications used to treat pain, fever, and inflammation, such as ibuprofen, celecoxib, and diclofenac. Please also let your healthcare provider know if you are taking other medications that your body removes through your kidneys, such as the antiviral medications acyclovir or valacyclovir that are used to treat cold sores and other conditions. Please speak to your healthcare provider if you are unsure if the medications you take are removed through your kidneys. |
If you take BIKTARVY together with these medications, you may be at an increased risk of kidney-related side effects or of your kidney function getting worse.
Before starting treatment with BIKTARVY and during treatment with BIKTARVY, your healthcare provider will check your kidneys regularly to make sure they are working properly. If you have any kidney-related side effects or your kidney function gets worse, your healthcare provider may switch you to another HIV-1 medication.
Can BIKTARVY be taken with over-the-counter medications?
This document does not include all medications, over-the-counter medications, and dietary supplements that may have interactions with BIKTARVY. The manufacturer of BIKTARVY, Gilead Sciences, currently does not have information about the interactions of BIKTARVY with other dietary and herbal supplements.
Which medications do not have interactions with BIKTARVY?
The table below contains a list of medications for which no interactions that would affect BIKTARVY’s effectiveness were found in clinical studies. Not all medications are included in clinical studies. If you have questions about a medication that isn't mentioned on this list, please talk to your healthcare provider.
Table 5. Medications shown to have no interactions with BIKTARVY
Type of product | Product name | Clinical guidance from the BIKTARVY US Prescribing Information |
Prescription medication for hormonal birth control | Ethinyl estradiol | In clinical studies, no medically important interactions were found when these medications were taken together with BIKTARVY or its components |
Prescription medication for hormonal birth control and menopause therapy | Norgestimate | |
Prescription medications to treat hepatitis C virus | Ledipasvir/sofosbuvir | |
Sofosbuvir | ||
Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir | ||
Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/ voxilaprevir | ||
Prescription medication to treat depression. This is also called an antidepressant | Sertraline | |
Prescription medication to reduce fear, tension, and anxiety. This is also called a tranquilizer | Midazolam |
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Glossary
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Gilead Sciences, Inc. is providing this letter in response to your unsolicited request for medical information. It is not promotional. It is intended for a US audience 18 years or older.
AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome): the most advanced stage of HIV.
Antacid: is a medicine that helps reduce the acid in your stomach.
Antiviral: a medicine that helps your body fight a virus that can cause a disease.
Anticonvulsants: a medicine used to prevent convulsions also called seizures.
Dietary Supplements: products people take to add extra nutrients to their diet, like vitamins, minerals, or other helpful substances.
Drug Interaction: two or more drugs reacting together and possible causing a side effect.
Epilepsy: a disturbance of brain activity.
HBV (hepatitis B virus): HBV is an illness caused by the hepatitis B virus. It affects the liver and can make it swollen and damaged. People can get it through contact with infected blood, unprotected sex, or from an infected mother to her baby at birth. Some people recover from it on their own, while others can have long-term liver problems if not treated.
HIV-1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1): is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If this is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
Inflammation: your body’s response to an illness, injury or something that does not belong in your body.
Laxative: is a type of medicine or food that helps you pass stool when you are constipated.
Over-the-counter medication: medicine that you can purchase without a prescription.
Prescription medicine: a drug that is available only with a written instruction from a healthcare professional.
References
- Enclosed. Gilead Sciences, Inc., BIKTARVY® (bictegravir, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide) tablets, for oral use. U.S. Prescribing Information. Foster City, CA..
More information about BIKTARVY
If you would like more detailed information about BIKTARVY, please visit:
https://www.gilead.com/-/media/files/pdfs/medicines/hiv/biktarvy/biktarvy_pi.pdf.
This is the US FDA-approved Prescribing Information, including the Patient Labeling, for BIKTARVY. It will tell you about the uses, warnings, and other important safety information about BIKTARVY.
Important note
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is providing this letter in response to your unsolicited request for medical information. Some of the information included in this letter may not be covered in the US FDA- approved Prescribing Information for BIKTARVY. Gilead Sciences, Inc. does not intend this letter to be used as medical advice and does not promote use of BIKTARVY in a way that has not been approved by the FDA. Please discuss this question and others you may have about your medical condition or treatment with your healthcare provider.
Follow-Up
For any additional questions, please contact Gilead Medical Information at:
☎1‐866‐MEDI‐GSI (1‐866‐633‐4474) or https://www.patient.askgileadmedical.com/
Reporting side effects
Please report all adverse events to:
Gilead Global Patient Safety ☎ 1-800-445-3235, option 3 or
www.gilead.com/utility/contact/report-an-adverse-event
FDA MedWatch Program by ☎ 1-800-FDA-1088 or MedWatch, FDA, 5600 Fishers Ln, Rockville, MD 20852 or www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch
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BIKTARVY GILEAD, and the GILEAD logo are registered trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies.
© 2025 Gilead Sciences, Inc.
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