Monthly jab of cabotegravir and rilpivirine comparable to daily, three-drug pill for HIV-1

Pivotal Phase III studies of the novel, investigational, long-acting regimen of cabotegravir and rilpivirine show that this injectable regimen is as effective as a daily, three-drug pill at suppressing HIV.

The data were presented by HIV/AIDS specialist company Viiv Healthcare, which is majority-owned by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK). This investigational, long-acting, injectable regimen is being co-developed as part of a collaboration with Janssen Sciences Ireland, a Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) subsidiary, and is not approved by regulatory authorities anywhere in the world.

These two studies met their primary endpoints, showing that the combination of ViiV Healthcare’s cabotegravir and Janssen’s rilpivirine, injected every four weeks, was non-inferior in maintaining viral suppression in adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) when compared to a standard of care, daily, oral three-drug regimen. These data were presented yesterday at the 2019 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle, Washington.