Source: San Francisco Business Times
“An experimental four-in-one, once-a-day drug to treat HIV from Gilead Sciences Inc. was at least as effective as the company’s multibillion-dollar, three-in-one-pill in a mid-stage study.
The Foster City-based company (NASDAQ: GILD) said it expects to start large-scale Phase III studies by the middle of the year involving 600 to 700 HIV-infected patients.
The so-called Quad tablet — combining previously approved Gilead drugs Viread and Emtriva with a new drug, elvitegravir, and new booster developed by Gilead — reduced the viral load in 90 percent of patients at 24 weeks of use. That compares with 83 percent using the three-in-one pill, Atripla.
What’s more, Gilead said discontinuation rates due to side effects were similar in both the Quad and Atripla arms midway through the 48-week study.”
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