Key Points

• The HIV treatment medicine Genvoya (elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide) does not have weight gain listed as a side effect in the product labeling.
• However, a large study suggests some of the newer HIV treatments, including integrase strand inhibitors such as elvitegravir (found in Genvoya), can be linked with significant weight gain.
• The exact mechanisms by which integrase inhibitors may cause weight gain are not fully known. Based on a meta-analysis study, weight gain may be due to a variety of related reasons, such as:
  • baseline CD4 counts
  • weight before treatment initiation
  • a return to health and an improved appetite following HIV treatment
  • overall food choices.

What’s in Genvoya?

Genvoya (elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide), from Gilead Sciences is an oral prescription medicine used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in adults and children who are at least 12 years old and who weigh at least 55 pounds (25 kilograms). HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).

Genvoya is considered a complete, one pill regimen for HIV treatment. It is taken once-a-day with food and you do not need to use other HIV-1 medicines with Genvoya. It contains 4 different types of drugs:

Table 1: Drugs found in Genvoya