Glaxo hails 'important milestone' for HIV drug

Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline has reported positive results from an initial study into its development of a drug for HIV treatment.

ViiV Healthcare, a global HIV firm established by Glaxo and Pfizer, and Shionogi & Co announced this morning that the SPRING-2 (ING113086) - the Phase III study of the investigational integrase inhibitor dolutegravir in treatment-nave adults with HIV-1 - met its primary objective, showing non-inferiority of dolutegravir to raltegravir.

"The SPRING-2 findings indicate that once daily unboosted dolutegravir may offer people living with HIV an additional treatment option in the future," sid ViiV's Chief Medica Officer John Pottage.

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"These are the first large-scale safety and efficacy data in nave patients, and we look forward to seeing further data in 2012 to build a more comprehensive picture of the role of dolutegravir," he said.

During a period of 48 weeks, 88% of study participants on the one-daily drug were "virologcially supressed" compared with 85% of participants on raltegravir (twice daily).

Shionogi & Co's Chief Executive Officer, Tsutae Nagata, said that the findings mark an "important milestone" for dolutegravir and the Shionogi-ViiV joint venture.

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