Janssen's two-drug combination demonstrates efficacy in maintaining viral suppression

If approved, this treatment could be the first two-drug regimen for HIV.

If approved, this treatment could be the first two-drug regimen for HIV and could offer those living with HIV who are virally suppressed the option to switch to a regimen which does not include a nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI).

The dolutegravir and rilpivirine regimen achieved non-inferior viral suppression (HIV-1 RNA <50 c/mL) at 48 weeks compared with a three- or four-drug regimen in both pooled and individual analyses of the SWORD 1 and SWORD 2 studies. Virologic suppression rates were similar between treatment arms. The median duration of antiretroviral treatment was just over 4 years at the time of entry into the studies. The most commonly reported adverse events in the dolutegravir and rilpivirine arm were nasopharyngitis, headache, diarrhea and upper respiratory tract infection. For the CAR arm, the most commonly reported adverse events were nasopharyngitis, upper respiratory tract infection, back pain, headache and diarrhea. The studies are ongoing for 148 weeks.

"The SWORD Phase III results represent an important step forward in our efforts to deliver a two-drug regimen that may help simplify dosing regimens and reduce pill burden for people living with HIV," says Lawrence M. Blatt, Global R&D Head, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Janssen. "As HIV is increasingly treated as a life-long condition, we remain committed to ongoing research and development of further medicines to treat HIV more simply and to help all those living with HIV to achieve an undetectable viral load and have an improved quality of life."