# Tenofovir (disoproxil and alafenamide)

Source: https://onco.cc/drugs/tenofovir/  
OnCo record `tenofovir` (Treatment). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Tenofovir is an antiviral tablet for hepatitis B and HIV. Someone with current or past hepatitis B who needs certain cancer treatments takes it to stop the virus flaring up.

## Summary

The Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) label covers HIV-1 infection with other antiretrovirals and chronic hepatitis B; the Vemlidy (tenofovir alafenamide) label covers chronic hepatitis B with compensated liver disease. ASCO's 2020 provisional clinical opinion on hepatitis B and cancer summarises guidance that patients with chronic infection or past exposure receiving higher-risk chemotherapy "require antiviral prophylaxis with tenofovir or entecavir". Viread was first approved on 26 October 2001 and Vemlidy on 10 November 2016.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: approved
- Last checked: 2026-11-11
- Also known as: tenofovir disoproxil fumarate; TDF; tenofovir alafenamide; TAF
- Tags: supportive; generic; supportive-care-gaps-2026-11
- Brand: Viread / Vemlidy
- Modality: Antiviral (nucleotide analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor, oral)
- Mechanism: A nucleotide analogue that inhibits hepatitis B virus and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase.
- Approvals: US 2001: Viread: HIV-1 infection and chronic hepatitis B; US 2016: Vemlidy: chronic hepatitis B with compensated liver disease

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenofovir_disoproxil
- US label (DailyMed): Viread: https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=33fd6418-fbdc-42ca-a50d-ce2a476a5418
- US label (DailyMed): Vemlidy: https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=72e6b33c-0351-4070-9172-eeaa186c01d2
- Hwang et al., Hepatitis B virus screening and management for patients with cancer prior to therapy: ASCO provisional clinical opinion update (J Clin Oncol 2020): https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.20.01757

## Connected records

- terms: [Hepatitis B reactivation before rituximab and other anti-CD20 antibodies](https://onco.cc/terms/lymphoma-tx-hepatitis-b-reactivation/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/tenofovir.json