26 Jun 2023 • For patients with HIV without genotype information, a second-line switch to dolutegravir is noninferior to a regimen containing a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor (PI), according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Participants were randomly assigned to switch to dolutegravir or continue the current regimen (398 and 397, respectively). The primary end point was a plasma HIV type 1 RNA level of at least 50 copies/mL at week 48. The researchers found that at week 48, 5.0 and 5.1 percent of patients in the dolutegravir and ritonavir-boosted PI groups, respectively, met the primary end point, a result that met the criterion for noninferiority.

In previously treated patients with viral suppression for whom there were no data regarding the presence of drug-resistance mutations, dolutegravir treatment was noninferior to a regimen containing a ritonavir-boosted PI when the patients were switched from a ritonavir-boosted PI–based regimen, concluded the authors. This can provide advantages with regard to cost, risk of toxic effects, risk of drug-drug interactions, and pill burden.

Source: Physician's Weekly | Read full story