Merck + Gilead: Still Only Prelim. Results, In An Open Label HIV+ Two Therapy Combo (Once A Week)... But Very Encouraging.

As we mentioned exactly three years ago, here -- these are early days, in an entirely new way of approaching HIV+ patients. The loading is only once per week, and it is all oral (thus higher compliance). A huge step forward, with these two heavy-weights, cooperating since March 2021.

And now, the companies are showing very impressive real world sustained reductions in viral loads. Here's the latest, from Fierce (but not quite a material development yet, for gargantuan Merck):

. . .Early results show that a weekly combination of Merck & Co.’s islatravir and Gilead’s approved HIV med Sunlenca maintained a high rate of viral suppression in patients with HIV, and just one patient out of 100 missed on the primary endpoint that measured viral load.

The open-label phase 2 study is testing islatravir 2 mg and lenacapavir 300 mg once a week against Gilead’s oral Biktarvy daily in 104 virologically suppressed adults. . . .

[The dosing combo] maintained a high rate of viral suppression with 94% of the group reporting less than 50 copies/ML. This shows that patients who switched to the weekly combo, compared to Biktarvy’s daily dosing schedule, maintained comparable rates of HIV suppression, the companies explained.

No patients in the Biktarvy arm of the study had viral loads of more than 50 copies/ML at week 24.

Now you know. From a certain death sentence -- in the 1980s and early 1990s. . . to long hospital stays and injections, in the late '90s and early 2000s. . . to now, a full and active -- and long life, here over forty years later. Wow. . . that's. . . some seriously excellent life-science progress. Smile. . . .

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