GlaxoSmithKline PLC (LON:GSK) has shown that HIV sufferers only need to take its two-drug injection once every two months to keep the virus at bay.
Drugmakers, including GSK, have ben working hard to develop new treatments for HIV that involve fewer drugs being taken less frequently.
READ: GSK’s Dovato single-pill HIV treatment sails through year-long phase III trial
FTSE 100-listed Glaxo already knew that its combination of cabotegravir and rilpivirine could be taken once a month and keep the virus suppressed.
But a phase III trial, called ATLAS-2M, has shown that the bi-monthly injection is just as effective as the once-monthly jab.
“We are excited to report that for the first time since the AIDS epidemic started more than 30 years ago, our ATLAS-2M study has demonstrated that it is possible to maintain suppression of the HIV virus with an injectable regimen containing two drugs administered every two months,” said Kimberley Smith, head of R&D at Glaxo’s majority-owned HIV division, ViiV Healthcare.
“This is further progress in our efforts to reduce the number of medicines a person living with HIV must take while also reducing the frequency of treatments.
“The ATLAS-2M study results mean that people living with HIV could maintain viral suppression with six total treatments per year, instead of a daily oral treatment 365 times per year. Approval of this regimen would mark a significant change in the HIV treatment paradigm.”