Gilead Versus GlaxoSmithKline in the Battle for an HIV Cure

Next week at an HIV conference in Seattle, WA, Gilead and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will go head to head as they reveal clinical trial results from promising drugs that treat patients with HIV.

The primary focus of the meeting will be on Gilead’s next-generation integrase inhibitor drug bictegravir—–similar to GSK’s dolutegravir––which may have increased potency with fewer adverse events, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, GSK will highlight the advantages of its new 2-drug combination treatment regimen for HIV compared with the conventional 3-drug cocktails. The dual treatment included dolutegravir and Johnson & Johnson’s rilpivirine.

The data to be presented next week for bictegravir is only from mid-stage phase 2 testing. Additionally, the drug is also in final stage of phase 3 testing, Reuters reported.

Andrew Witty, chief executive of GSK, told analysts that dolutegravir’s Holy Grail was its proven track record in preventing the virus from becoming drug resistant.

“It has an extremely impressive resistance profile,” Witty said in the Reuters report. “It is not easy to beat … in terms of the thing that really matters, I think that dolutegravir remains an extremely impressive molecule.”

The results from Gilead’s phase 2 trial comparing bictegravir with dolutegravir used as part of a drug-drug combination is to be presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections on February 13, 2017, according to Reuters.

Additionally, findings from two phase 3 trials examining the new dolutegravir and rilpivirine combination regimen will also be presented.