How to Help Your Patients Find Tesamorelin in Stock: A Provider's Guide

As a clinician managing HIV-positive patients with lipodystrophy, you know that prescribing tesamorelin is only half the battle. The real challenge is getting it into your patient's hands. Between specialty pharmacy requirements, prior authorization hurdles, insurance formulary restrictions, and the current Egrifta SV-to-WR transition, accessing tesamorelin requires active coordination. This guide gives you a practical, step-by-step workflow to maximize access for your patients.

Step 1: Identify Appropriate Candidates Proactively

The earlier you identify and document lipodystrophy in HIV patients, the smoother the access process will be. Key clinical criteria to document for prior authorization purposes:

HIV diagnosis (ICD-10: B20) with current antiretroviral regimen documented

Lipodystrophy/EVAF diagnosis (ICD-10: E88.1) — include abdominal exam findings and patient-reported distress

Baseline waist circumference (>100 cm in men, >88 cm in women commonly required)

CT or MRI imaging confirming excess visceral adipose tissue (not universally required but strengthens PA requests significantly)

Baseline IGF-1, fasting glucose, and HbA1c (required for monitoring and strengthens PA)

Absence of active malignancy and pituitary dysfunction (contraindications must be ruled out)

Step 2: Enroll Patients in THERA Patient Support at the Time of Prescribing

The THERA Patient Support program by Theratechnologies is the most powerful tool available for ensuring your patients can access tesamorelin. The program provides:

Benefits verification and prior authorization management — they handle the paperwork and follow-ups

Appeals support for denied PA requests

Coordination with specialty pharmacies in the patient's insurance network

Co-Pay Assistance Program for commercially insured patients to reduce out-of-pocket costs

Patient Assistance Program providing free medication to qualifying uninsured or underinsured patients

Dedicated Nurse Navigators for injection training, adherence support, and transition counseling

Enroll via: hcp.egriftawr.com or call 1-833-23-THERA (1-833-238-4372), Monday–Friday 8:30 AM–8:00 PM EST. The enrollment form requires a patient consent signature — have it ready at the visit where you prescribe tesamorelin.

Step 3: Navigate the Egrifta SV to Egrifta WR Transition

Egrifta WR (FDA-approved March 2025, commercially available September 2025) is now the primary tesamorelin formulation being promoted by Theratechnologies. It will gradually replace Egrifta SV. As you transition your existing patients, keep in mind:

A new prescription is required — Egrifta SV and Egrifta WR are not interchangeable, and pharmacies cannot substitute one for the other

A new prior authorization is required by most insurers — THERA Patient Support will manage this process

Injection training update — Egrifta WR uses a different reconstitution procedure (bacteriostatic water, weekly reconstitution). THERA Nurse Navigators provide retraining for patients transitioning from Egrifta SV.

Step 4: Use medfinder When Specialty Pharmacy Access Breaks Down

When patients encounter unexpected out-of-stock situations or delays at their designated specialty pharmacy, medfinder for providers can help identify which specialty pharmacies in the patient's area currently have tesamorelin available. medfinder calls pharmacies on behalf of patients and texts results directly to them, saving hours of phone calls. This is a useful tool to direct patients to when they report difficulty getting their prescription filled, even after THERA support enrollment. For more context on current supply, see our tesamorelin shortage update for 2026.

Step 5: Have a Contingency Plan for Patients Who Cannot Access Tesamorelin

If a patient remains unable to access tesamorelin despite all efforts, discuss the following with them:

Whether their current antiretroviral regimen can be safely modified to one less associated with lipodystrophy (e.g., switch to an INSTI-based regimen)

Compounded tesamorelin from a licensed 503A or 503B pharmacy (not FDA-approved, not covered by insurance, but may be significantly more affordable)

Lifestyle interventions (aerobic exercise, caloric restriction) as a bridge — these have modest effect on visceral fat in HIV lipodystrophy but are risk-free

Off-label use of sermorelin or other GHRH analogs — discuss risks and limited evidence with the patient