Gilead Sciences reports further positive Quad trial data

Gilead Sciences has published data from a new phase III trial of its combination HIV therapy Quad, which further demonstrates the potential benefits of the treatment.

The therapy was recently assessed in comparison to a protease-based regimen of ritonavir-boosted atazanavir plus Truvada over 48 weeks of therapy among HIV-1 infected treatment-naive adults.

It was found that Gilead's treatment offered non-inferior performance during the pivotal study, data from which will be used to support the company's efforts to seek regulatory approval for the new therapy.

Dr Edwin DeJesus, medical director of the Orlando Immunology Center in Florida, said: "This result is a strong indication of the potential benefit that an integrase-based single tablet regimen could offer patients starting HIV treatment."

A once-daily tablet regimen of elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarat, Quad was also recently involved in a clinical study comparing its efficacy to that of Atripla.

Data from the earlier phase III trial showed that Quad is able to deliver non-inferior performance compared to the widely-prescribed treatment.