NICE: double first for HIV treatment in England

ViiV Healthcare, which is majority owned by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK), today announce that eligible people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in England and Wales will soon have routine access to Vocabria (cabotegravir long-acting injection), developed by ViiV Healthcare, in combination with Rekambys (rilpivirine long-acting injection), developed by Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) subsidiary.

This comes as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a positive Final Appraisal Document (FAD), recommending the combination for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults who are virologically suppressed (HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL) on a stable antiretroviral regimen without present or past evidence of viral resistance to, and no prior virological failure with agents of the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) and integrase inhibitor (INI) class.

This is the first time an HIV treatment has ever been appraised and approved by the NICE and means that eligible people living with HIV in England and Wales will soon be able to receive the complete long-acting injectable regimen once every two months, following an initiation phase (oral lead in and initiation injections), as opposed to regular, daily oral treatment. The announcement follows a positive decision from the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) in October 2021, enabling people living with HIV in Scotland to access the long-acting injectable regimen within NHS Scotland.