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THURSDAY, March 5, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For patients with HIV-1 suppression, long-acting cabotegravir plus rilpivirine is noninferior to oral therapy with dolutegravir-abacavir-lamivudine and standard oral therapy, according to two studies published online March 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Chloe Orkin, M.D., from the Queen Mary University of London, and colleagues conducted a phase 3 randomized trial involving adults with HIV-1 infection who were given 20 weeks of daily oral induction therapy with dolutegravir-abacavir-lamivudine. Participants with an HIV-1 RNA level of less than 50 copies\/mL were randomly assigned to either continue current oral therapy or switch to oral cabotegravir plus rilpivirine for one month followed by long-acting cabotegravir plus rilpivirine. The researchers found an HIV-1 RNA level of 50 copies\/mL or higher in 2.1 and 2.5 percent of patients who received long-acting and oral therapy, respectively, at 48 weeks (adjusted difference, \u22120.4 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, \u22122.8 to 2.1), which met the criterion for noninferiority for the primary end point.<\/p>\n
Susan Swindells, M.B., B.S., from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and colleagues randomly assigned patients with plasma HIV-1 RNA levels of less than 50 copies\/mL for at least six months while on standard antiretroviral therapy to either continue therapy or switch to monthly intramuscular injections of long-acting cabotegravir and long-acting rilpivirine (308 patients per group) in a phase 3 trial. The researchers found HIV-1 RNA levels of 50 copies\/mL or higher in 1.6 and 1.0 percent of patients receiving long-acting and oral therapy, respectively (adjusted difference, 0.6 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, \u22121.2 to 2.5), which met the criterion for noninferiority for the primary end point.<\/p>\n
“The ATLAS and FLAIR trials are important milestones in the development of HIV therapeutics and represent major steps into the era of long-acting ART,” writes the author of an accompanying editorial.<\/p>\n
The study was funded by Viiv Healthcare and Janssen, which manufacture cabotegravir and rilpivirine, respectively.<\/p>\n
Abstract\/Full Text – Orkin (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text – Swindells (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n