April 20, 2009

“Quad” HIV Pill Enters Phase II Study

Gilead Sciences Inc. announced today it initiated a Phase II study of a new four-in-one—or “Quad”—HIV treatment. The Quad pill includes Gilead’s experimental integrase inhibitor called elvitegravir, an experimental boosting agent called GS 9350 and the approved drugs Viread (tenofovir) and Emtriva (emtricitabine).

The study will enroll 75 HIV-positive people who’ve never taken antiretroviral therapy before and will randomize them to take either the Quad pill or Atripla (efavirenz, tenofovir and emtricitabine). The 48-week trial will determine both the efficacy and the safety of the Quad pill after 24 and 48 weeks of treatment.

The study is not so much to evaluate the efficacy and safety of elvitegravir—which has already successfully completed a Phase II study and is now in two large Phase III studies—as much as to test the new blood level boosting agent GS 9350, which is being examined as an alternative for low-dose Norvir (ritonavir).

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Previous Comments:

christina l diamond, kewaskum, wi, 2009-05-25 21:55:08
i hope it helps alot of people!!!

Tim Horn, AIDSmeds.com, New York, NY, 2009-04-24 15:29:52
pablo - this is essentially a single pill containing four drugs, arguably easier to take than handfulls of pills. Please understand that it's just now going into intermediate studies, so we can't so much about its safety or effectiveness.

pabloMontagna, Newport Beach, CA, 2009-04-24 14:27:29
Don't TeASE ME... your article “Quad” HIV Pill Enters Phase II Study is stingy. Tell me what is it for, how is it better, why its been tested, Who is it conna help. How does it interact against virus?(simple wording) What are "they" looking to accomplish? Why? C'mon guys of POZ.. give us the whole enchilada man!!

RJ, Orange County CA, 2009-04-21 13:08:05
I can't help but notice that I don't see any PIs except for Norvir (the booster.) I have become resistant to all nukes and non-nukes over the past 25 years. I guess this wouldn't work for me. Boo.