This year, people living with HIV expect to have another option when it comes to treating their disease.
A twice a month injection regimen using cabotegravir and rilpivirine was found as effective as the standard treatment of a daily oral three-drug regimen for people with human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1). The results came from two studies — Antiretroviral Therapy as Long-Acting Suppression (ATLAS) and First Long-Acting Injectable Regimen (FLAIR), sponsored by ViiV Healthcare.
The two studies are being published in the March 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading medical journal. University of Nebraska Medical Center infectious diseases physician and researcher, Susan Swindells, M.B.B.S., is lead author of the ATLAS paper and was involved in the ATLAS research study.
Manufacturers of the treatment have applied to the Food and Drug Administration for approval and expect the treatment to be available this year.
“The ATLAS study tested out long acting injections of anti-HIV drugs, as an alternative to daily pills,” said Dr. Swindells, principal investigator of ATLAS and professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. “Surprisingly to me, patients really liked getting their treatment this way and especially liked the freedom from taking tablets every day. Our team is very excited to have played such an important role in the future of HIV care.”
Cabotegravir is manufactured by ViiV Healthcare, while rilpivirine is manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceutical.
The international ATLAS study, which included 616 men and women living with HIV, was conducted at research centers in Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.
ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV and for people who are at risk of becoming infected with HIV. Shionogi joined as a shareholder in October 2012. The company’s aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and innovative medicines for HIV treatment and prevention, as well as support communities affected by HIV.
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