ViiV Healthcare recently found in phase III testing that the combination of dolutegravir and rilpivirine is as effective in treating HIV as a three- or four-drug combination.
With the test, ViiV Healthcare sought to discover how dolutegravir and rilpivirine worked in treating virologically suppressed HIV compared to a combination of three or four medicines. The two-drug combinate proved to be just as strong in fighting HIV-1, according to an announcement.
The median amount of time that people took antiretroviral medicine to treat HIV was four years.
The most common side effects for those who took dolutegravir and rilpivirine were colds, headaches, diarrhea and upper respiratory tract infections. Those who took the three-drug combination most often had side effects of colds, upper respiratory tract infections, back pain, headaches and diarrhea.
The test included more than 1,000 patients who had previously controlled their HIV with a three-drug or four-drug combination, and the researchers randomly chose who would switch to the dolutegravir and rilpivirine and who would stay on the three-drug or four-drug combination.
The two groups had similar numbers of people who reported side effects, as 27 people on dolutegravir and rilpivirine had side effects, while 21 who stayed with the three-drug or four-drug combination had side effects. Of those who had side effects, 21 on the dolutegravir and rilpivirine left the test, while three who stayed on the three-drug or four-drug combination left the test.
