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Gilead Trial Pause Adds To Merck & Co’s HIV Concerns

Might Be End Of Partnership

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

The partners are halting recruitment out of “an abundance of caution,” but Gilead could decide to exit the alliance if islatravir cannot shake off safety concerns.

Gilead_USA
Gilead is closing in on approval for its long-acting HIV therapy, but the future of its combination with Merck's drug is now uncertain • Source: Alamy

Doubts about the future of Merck & Co’s long-acting HIV candidate islatravir have grown after a second trial has been paused in a matter of days, this time a combination study with Gilead Sciences’s lenacapavir.

The companies said on 24 November that enrolment in the Phase II study of the investigational once-weekly oral combination had...

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