Stribild and Norvir should not be administered together. Some active ingredients in the drug may interfere and render the combination dangerous [1].
Stribild is an antiretroviral combination drug designed to treat HIV patients who have not been on HIV treatment previously [2]. Stribild contains four components:
Stribild helps lower the viral load in the body. This means that your immune system strengthens and reduces the risk of developing opportunistic ailments.
Norvir (ritonavir) is used for treating adult and pediatric HIV-infected patients. The use of Norvir in combination with nucleoside analogs in the treatment of patients with HIV infection leads to a significant decrease in the intensity of viral infection and an increase in the number of CD4 cells. Treatment with this drug leads to an improvement in hematological parameters, including an increase in white blood cells, the total number of lymphocytes and platelets [3]. Ritonavir blocks the production of a special enzyme that supports the survivability of HIV. As a result, the virus no longer has the ability to survive and reproduce. Though it is mostly prescribed as a booster for other ARVs.
Both Stribild and Norvir are HIV enzymes inhibitors, with similar mechanisms of action.
Stribild is used as a complete regimen for treating HIV-1 and should not be combined with other antiretroviral drugs because of their potential negative interactions and worsening of side effects.
Additionally, Stribild must not be coadministered with regimens or medications containing ritonavir – the main ingredient of Norvir – due to the similar induction effects cobicistat and ritonavir have on CYP3A. Also, the pharmacokinetics of elvitegravir, cobicistat and the coadministered drug may be altered in an unexpected way [4].