An ongoing BICSTaR study has demonstrated the benefits of treatment with HIV drug Biktarvy, developed by Gilead Sciences, according to BioSpace. It has also demonstrated quality-of-life issues faced by patients who have been treated with the drug for a year.
Gilead is a US-based company that focuses on researching and developing antiviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and influenza.
The study, presented at the European AIDS Conference, found that Biktarvy, which contains bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide, allowed patients to maintain control of their disease, with more than 90% of adults achieving and maintaining virologic suppression after one year of treatment.
The study, which found that the drug was generally well-tolerated, also examined additional real-world outcomes in the study population, including patients with comorbidities.
Gilead said the study underlines the importance of maintaining patient-reported outcomes to better understand the treatment’s impact on mental health and quality of life.
Dr. Fernando Bognar, Vice President of Medical Affairs in HIV at Gilead Sciences, said that despite significant advances in antiretroviral therapy, many HIV patients continue to experience additional symptoms that can require “person-centered care.”
He said the study findings offer a first-hand assessment of the impact of HIV treatment and the quality of life of HIV patients.
Dr. Bognar said, “As physicians and people living with HIV look to understand what long-term treatment means to them individually, these data presented at EACS also reinforce that Biktarvy can meet the specific treatment needs of diverse groups of people, including men and women aging with HIV and those with existing comorbid conditions.”
In the study, 99% of patients living with HIV who achieved Biktarvy maintained and achieved long-term viral suppression through a median of 101 weeks.
HIV has killed more than 35 million people over the last 40 years since the disease first emerged in the 1980s.
In the United States, more than 1 million people are living with HIV infection. Experts estimate that 38,000 Americans are diagnosed with HIV each year, which has done down significantly compared to the initial figures.
