Singapore: Gilead Sciences has announced 24-week data from a phase III clinical trial SPIRIT (Switching boosted PI to Rilpivirine In Combination with Truvada as a Single Tablet Regimen), which evaluated virologically suppressed treatment-experienced HIV patients switching from a multi-pill regimen containing a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor to the once-daily single tablet regimen Complera (emtricitabine/rilpivirine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate). The study met its 24-week primary endpoint, which found that switching to Complera was non-inferior to remaining on a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor regimen.

"Since its approval last year for patients new to HIV therapy, the daily single tablet regimen of Complera has become an important addition to the list of treatment options available for these patients," said Dr Frank J Palella Jr, professor of Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and principal investigator of the SPIRIT study. "In this current study, data demonstrate Complera has the potential to help a broader range of HIV-infected patients."

Complera was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2011 for treatment-naïve patients, and is the latest complete HIV regimen available in a once-daily single tablet. The product combines Gilead's Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), which itself is a fixed-dose combination of two HIV medicines, with Janssen R&D Ireland's rilpivirine (marketed as Edurant).