Gilead Sciences commences phase III trial of HIV treatment

Gilead Sciences has begun a new phase III clinical study of a new combination therapy for sufferers of HIV.

The pharmaceutical company has dosed the trial’s first patient with its new daily Quad treatment, which combines elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate in a single fixed-dose tablet.

Over the course of the 96-week trial, the treatment’s efficacy will be monitored and compared to the alternative Atripla regimen, with around 700 patients set to be involved in total.

Dr Norbert Bischofberger, executive vice-president of research and development and chief scientific officer at Gilead Sciences, expressed confidence in the drug based on positive findings from a phase II study.

In this earlier trial, it was found that the treatment was able to achieve high rates of virological suppression.

Dr Bischofberger said: “We look forward to further defining the clinical profile of the Quad in a larger number of patients in the phase III trials.”