A monthly injection could be as effective as daily pills in maintaining viral suppression in patients with HIV infection, an international conference has heard.
The injection consists of cabotegravir and rilpivirine and was administered every four to eight weeks in the phase 2 trial reported to the conference of the International Aids Society in Paris, France.
The study, conducted in five countries, found slightly higher rates of viral suppression from the injected therapies than from daily oral medication.
Some 286 patients took part in the study at sites in the USA, Germany, Canada, Spain and France.
Patients began injection treatment after taking 20 weeks of daily oral antiretroviral medicine.
The study found that 96 weeks after patients entered the trial, 94% of those who received injections on an eight-week cycle maintained viral suppression. This applied to 87% of those on a four-week cycle and 84% of those on oral medication – although just 56 patients were assigned to oral therapy.
Researcher Professor Joe Eron, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA, said: "The results of LATTE-2 show that a long-acting injectable antiretroviral regimen has the potential to be both highly effective and well tolerated over a long period of time.
"These data provide a strong foundation for the ongoing and planned phase 3 trials which will hopefully lead to an effective, well tolerated alternative to daily antiretroviral therapy."
The findings are also reported in The Lancet and, writing in the journal, two Australian professors state that there may be benefits to the eight-week cycle.
They say: "This scenario, compared with having to seek health care to be injected on a monthly basis, might make the injectable option seem less convenient than conventional oral therapy for some people.
"This is compounded by the fact that health-care systems are generally not configured to facilitate regular, recurrent injections in a timely and convenient way to people who are well. Changing this will take innovation, political will, and time."
Lancet 24 July 2017 [abstract]
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