Switching HIV patients to a once-daily version of Triumeq maintains viral suppression just as effectively as antiretroviral drugs, according to a new study.
The data posted by ViiV Healthcare, in which GlaxoSmithKline has a 75% stake, comes from the STRIIVING trial involving 551 patients.
The study compared safety, efficacy and tolerability of switching from an antiretroviral therapy to ViiV’s once-daily fixed dose Triumeq (abacavir/dolutegravir/lamivudine) in adults with HIV-1 infection.
For both the group that switched to Triumeq and the group that remained on antiretroviral drugs, rates of viral suppression stood at 93% after 24 weeks.
John Pottage, chief scientific and medical officer at ViiV Healthcare, said: “For clinicians, choosing among antiretroviral therapies now involves balancing efficacy with factors such as tolerability, dosing, ability to use with other medications, and resistance profile.
“This data supports the use of once-daily abacavir/dolutegravir/lamivudine as a treatment option in the switch setting for appropriate patients.”
The STRIIVING study used patients who were initially on a wide range of protease inhibitors, integrase strand transfer inhibitors and non-nuceloside reverse transcriptase inhibitors thereby reflecting more common clinical situations.
As an additional positive for the drug, treatment satisfaction scores were significantly higher for patients switching to Triumeq compared to those who remained on their established regimen.
The current HIV fixed-dose combination market leader is by Gilead’s Atripla (tenofovir, emtrcitabine and efavirenz), which in 2013 achieved sales of $3.6bn.
ViiV was set up in 2009 as a partnership between GSK and Pfizer, and Triumeq was granted approval in the US in August last year.
The value of the HIV treatment market is set to increase from $14bn in 2013 to well over $15bn by 2023 according to GlobalData.