‘Transformational’ HIV injection every eight weeks could replace daily pills

Three hundred nine HIV patients, who were taking the daily 3-pill treatment prior to the experiment, were studied.

A major scientific breakthrough in HIV treatment will soon end up the daily treatment that each HIV patient goes through.

The plan now is to amplify those results in a larger Phase III study, the partners said, with the goal of launching the combo injection by 2020.

Of course not everyone with HIV will be able to take this combination due to other medical conditions and possible side-effects, but after the success of these initial trials, the companies are already planning to develop other combinations.

HIV patients typically take a combination of three medicines every day, often in combination pills.

However, not adhering to that strict schedule can result in the HIV virus coming back and growing resistant to the treatment, as often happens with patients struggling with other problems in their lives, Kuritzkes said.

Patients getting injections every month had viral suppression of 94 per cent after 32 weeks.

Yes, the language is a bit dense, but what it means is that long-lasting, injectable versions of the drugs were just as effective in fighting HIV as a daily dose of them in pill form.

AZT was the first HIV drug, approved in 1987.

Meanwhile, the suppression rate was 95 per cent for those receiving treatment every eight weeks.

Stoffels said Johnson & Johnson hoped to get the product to market “significantly before 2020”, and aimed to have it sold globally. It blocks an HIV enzyme called reverse transcriptase, which prevents HIV from multiplying and can reduce the level of HIV in the body.

Rilpivirine is from J&J, while cabotegravir is being developed by ViiV Healthcare Co., a joint venture of London-based Glaxo, New York-based Pfizer Inc. and Osaka, Japan-based Shionogi & Co.

Since the AIDS epidemic began in the early 1980s, nearly 75 million people around the world have been infected with the HIV virus, which causes the deadly immune disorder.