GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) on Tuesday announced positive phase three study results for its two drug HIV treatment.
The study, carried out by GSK’s majority owned ViiV Healthcare business, showed the two drug treatment for HIV-1 was just as effective as the three or four drug regimens in virologically suppressed patients.
The two drug regimen of dolutegravir and rilpivirine achieved virological sucess in 95% of paitents who changed over from existing treatments, according to data relased at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seatle.
The average duration of antiretroviral treatment was just over four years at the time of entry into the studies.
Commonly reported adverse reactions to dolutegravir and rilpivirine included nasopharyngitis, headache, diarrhoea and upper respiratory tract infection.
"The results from these studies may change our understanding of how HIV can be managed,” John C Pottage, chief scientific and medical officer at ViiV Healthcare, said.
“For more than 20 years we thought that three or more drugs were required to maintain virologic suppression, but the SWORD studies provide compelling data that suppression may be maintained with a two drug regimen of dolutegravir and rilpivirine.”
Following the announcement, Jefferies said the data held few surprises and believes GSK will manage HIV growth using incremental combinations and pricing as needed.
It added that investors' worries about the threat of competition from a rival HIV treatment by Gilead Sciences are overstated.
At the CROI on Monday, results from Gilead's phase two trial of HIV treatment bictegravir showed it suppressed the virus in 97% of patients, slightly better than GSK's results.
"Whilst investors will likely remain concerned by the threat from Gilead's bictegravir following the update at CROI, we see no killer blow in the phase two data," Jefferies said.
"In addition, we believe that ViiV will continue to grow the HIV franchise through incremental new product development (cabotegravir, attachment inhibitors, maturation Inhibitors, allosteric integrase Inhibitors, combinectin), new two-drug combinations (rilprivirine, lamivudine) and aggressive pricing, just as GlaxoSmithKline has become accustomed to in other major therapeutic areas (respiratory, diabetes, etc)."
Shares in Glencore rose 0.16% to 329.40p in afternoon trade.