A two-drug regimen was noninferior to a three-drug regimen as initial antiretroviral therapy (ART) for adults with HIV, a phase IIIb trial showed.
At week 48, an HIV-1 RNA level of less than 50 copies/mL was achieved by 89% of patients who received dolutegravir and lamivudine (Dovato) versus 92% of those who received bictegravir, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide (Biktarvy), reported Jade Ghosn, MD, PhD, of Université Paris Cité, at the International AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro.
That 3% difference between the two groups met the trial's 10% noninferiority margin, Ghosn and colleagues noted in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, where the study was published.
"These findings reinforce [dolutegravir and lamivudine] as an effective, first-line, two-drug option for a broad population initiating ART when used in a test-and-treat approach," Ghosn said during her presentation.
The combination of the integrase strand transfer inhibitor dolutegravir and the nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor lamivudine is FDA approved to treat HIV in people ages 12 years and older who've had no prior ART or to replace an ART regimen in those who are virologically suppressed on a stable regimen with no history of treatment failure.
