GlaxoSmithKline joint venture ViiV receives CHMP backing for Triumeq

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that its joint venture ViiV Healthcare has achieved a new milestone in its efforts to seek European regulatory approval for its new HIV therapy Triumeq.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency has issued a positive opinion recommending marketing authorisation for Triumeq for the treatment of HIV infection in patients aged 12 years and older and weighing at least 40 kg.

Triumeq is the first investigational once-daily single-tablet regimen for HIV that combines the integrase inhibitor dolutegravir with the nucleoside analogues abacavir/lamivudine. It has demonstrated its potential benefits in a number of clinical studies.

A final decision by the European Commission is now anticipated during the third quarter of 2014.

Dr John Pottage, chief scientific and medical officer at ViiV Healthcare, said: "Today's positive opinion takes us a step closer to bringing physicians and people living with HIV a dolutegravir-based regimen that can be taken once daily as a single tablet."

ViiV was established as a joint venture by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer in November 2009. It received EU approval for another HIV therapy, Tivicay, earlier this year.