Combined Isentress and Fuzeon cuts HIV levels in study

Swiss drugmaker Roche says that nearly all of the patients treated with the investigational integrase inhibitor Isentress (raltegravir), being developed by USA-based Merck & Co, in combination with its product Fuzeon (enfuvirtide) and the protease inhibitor Prezista (darunavir ; marketed by Tibotec Therapeutics), achieved undetectable HIV levels. The findings were presented at the 14th conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Los Angeles, USA, late last week.

The data are derived from a subset of the results from two Phase III studies (BENCHMARK 1 and 2) that enrolled treatment experienced HIV infected patients. Participants were provided with a twice-daily dose of raltegravir 400mg in combination with a range of optimized anti-HIV drugs.

In the study, 98% of those treated with raltegravir in combination with Fuzeon and darunavir showed undetectable viral load levels (less than 400 copies/ml) at week 16, compared with 87% of patients in the group that received Fuzeon and darunavir. In addition, the drug, in the absence of either Fuzeon or darunavir brought about undetectable levels of virus in 78% of those treated, while only 29% of those on a treatment regimen that included none of the three compounds achieved such a reduction.