Johnson and Johnson HIV drug shows efficacy

Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company, has announced the publication of phase III clinical trial results in the Lancet, evaluating the safety and efficacy of a combination treatment of Prezista (darunavir) with ritonavir, together with an optimised antiretroviral agent background regimen in treatment-experienced HIV-1 patients.

In the trial, 77 per cent of these patients realised a plasma viral load of less than 400 copies per millilitre at week 48 of treatment, compared to 68 per cent of patients in the study receiving Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) with an optimised background regimen.

Furthermore, ten per cent of patients receiving Prezista showed virological failure, compared to 22 per cent of patients administered with lopinavir.

These results are also due to be presented at the upcoming International Aids Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention taking place on July 24th 2007 in Sydney.

Daniel Berger, medical director of NorthStar Healthcare, said: “This is exciting new information that adds to the body of knowledge on Prezista in a much broader group of treatment-experienced patients.”

Prezista is marketed by Janssen-Cilag division Tibotec in the European Union, Russia and Switzerland.

Tibotec was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in April 2002 and has since evolved into a pharmaceutical firm focused on the discovery and development of treatments for infectious diseases.