ViiV Healthcare And Janssen Sciences Confirm Phase III Clinical Trials For HIV Cure; Cabotegravir & Rilpivirine Drugs Part of Trial
It may already be 2016 but until now, there is still no known cure for human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. Fortunately, there are treatments available that can help control the disease so that the infected person will be able to live a long and healthy life as much as possible.
This pushes researchers and scientists to keep on looking for a possible cure. In a report by Christian Today, two companies are currently conducting clinical trials that involve a two-drug combination treatment of the HIV infection. The two firms are ViiV Healthcare, which is a joint venture by GSK, Pfizer, and Shionogi Limited; and Janssen Sciences, an Ireland-based subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
According to the source, both parties have already confirmed their plans to move on with the Phase III clinical trials to find out if HIV-infected individuals will be able to say goodbye to daily doses of tablets and instead, just take a two-drug injectable regimen once or twice a month to suppress the HIV. In a detailed report by PR Newswire, chief scientific officer for Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies Paul Stoffels said that taking in several drugs a day is a real challenge.
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"Despite great progress in developing HIV treatments, the day-to-day burden of managing HIV remains high and poses challenges," said Stoffels. "We are committed to making a real difference for those affected by HIV. The prospect of developing new therapies, such as long acting formulations which are broadly accessible, may offer hope to the many millions affected by HIV around the world," he added.
The two drugs that the companies will combine for the HIV regimen are rilpivirine from Janssen and cabotegravir from ViiV Healthcare. Now that they are ready to proceed to the next step, they will begin the trial by the middle of this year.
As reported in Ecumenical News, statistics from amfAR show that there are about 37 million people living with HIV now. In the year 2014 alone, the number of new cases tallied reached an estimate of two million people while over one million people died from the disease.
