OBJECTIVES: To describe the burden of disease associated with bictegravir/tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine (BIC/TAF/FTC) in terms of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) in adults infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1).

METHODS: A rapid systematic review was conducted. Published cost-utility studies evaluating the BIC/TAF/FTC for the treatment of adults with HIV-1 infection, including naive patients and with previous treatment experience, regardless of language, date, and type of publication, were considered eligible. The prioritized outcome measure was QALYs. The search for studies was conducted using key terms in the electronic databases MEDLINE, INAHTA, NHS Economic Evaluation, ISPOR and Epistemonikos, and was complemented by a search for grey literature. Reference screening and study selection was performed by two independent researchers. The characteristics and results of the included studies were summarized in Excel®. A narrative synthesis was carried out with a descriptive statistical analysis.

RESULTS: Five studies met the eligibility criteria. All studies adopted the perspective of the health system and used modeling; for the most part, the time horizon was life expectancy. The expected average effectiveness per patient with BIC/TAF/FTC was found to be 14.87 QALYs (range: 2.55-24.88), and of the combined group of other antiretroviral agents is 9.49 QALYs (range: 0.70-24.91) (n=5). Across all available paired comparisons, BIC/TAF/FTC has an average delta of an additional 0.53 QALYs.

CONCLUSIONS: There is scientific evidence supporting the positive effect of BIC/TAF/FTC on disease burden of adults with HIV-1 infection.