GSK’s two-drug HIV treatment clears key clinical assessments

GlaxoSmithKline, a British pharmaceutical company, has announced through clinical study results that their two-drug HIV treatment works just as well as the conventional triple therapy, even for individuals with comparatively high levels of the virus causing AIDS.

Investors and doctors alike had been anxious to see how 3TC, also known as the experimental combination of lamivudine and dolutegravir, measures up to highly potent triple drugs marketed by GSK’s rival Gilead Sciences.

As per reliable sources, ViiV Healthcare unit has developed the latest treatment. The company, in which GSK has a majority stake, had announced successful results from the two supposed GEMINI studies in the previous month.  However, the details of the study were not divulged until the International AIDS Conference was held in Amsterdam, wherein the unveiling took place.

An expert HIV researcher from Argentina, Pedro Cahn who piloted the GEMINI studies stated that the outcome showed the two-drug treatment to be as effective as the three-drug therapy. After monitoring 1400 patients over a span of 48 weeks, researchers discovered that 91% of the individuals taking lamivudine and dolutegravir showed high levels of viral control when compared with 93% of the individuals on the three-drug course – a negligible statistical gap.

Inability in controlling HIV, or virologic failure rates were steady and did not cross the 1% mark across all groups with none of the patients developing drug resistance, cite sources.

Cahn stated that this is a new treatment option and that the primary motivation of developing this course of treatment was to minimize the burden of the quantity of drugs patients had to ingest when on a life-long treatment plan.

GSK is anticipating that the shift toward two-drug course rather than the three-drug regimen will catapult its sales as it is offering treatment with fewer toxic side-effects. The company also points out that the two-drug course would be more affordable as lamivudine is out of patent restrictions.