GSK and Shire's three-combo HIV drug Trizivir gets OK from Canada

Trizivir, the only HIV triple-combination antiretroviral drug in asingle tablet, has been approved by Health Canada's Therapeutic Products Directorate. Trizivir, which has been developed by UK-based Shire Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline, combines three much-used HIV compounds, lamivudine (3TC), Retrovir (zidovudine) and Ziagen (abacavir sulphate), and is intended to simplify treatment through fewer pills, said Joseph Rus, chief executive of Shire's North American subsidiary, Shire BioChem.

The combination drug is already marketed in the USA, where it notched up sales of some $70 million over the first nine months of the current year, a GSK spokesman told the Marketletter. Trizivir is also available on a selective basis in Europe since the last three-six months, he added.

Data recently released from a 48-week study, and presented at the First International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Argentina, demonstrated Trizivir's significant improvement in patient adherence and tolerability with an equivalent efficacy compared to a protease inhibitor-based regimen.