The possibility of a two-drug regimen for HIV maintenance therapy has come further into view with the full data for the SWORD studies showing that patients can be switched from a three- or four-drug regimen to ViiV Healthcare's Tivicay (dolutegravir) plus Janssen Inc.'s Edurant (rilpivirine) without sacrificing any anti-HIV efficacy. The companies are planning regulatory filings for the two-drug regimen as a single tablet this year.
The dolutegravir and rilpivirine regimen achieved non-inferior viral suppression (HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL) at 48 weeks compared with a three-...