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LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline's alreadyfast-growing HIV drug business has received an important boostwith the success of two major clinical studies testing a newtwo-drug treatment regimen to control the virus that causesAIDS.
The approach is a departure from conventional triple drugcocktails that can cause troublesome side effects, especiallyamong older patients who make up a growing proportion of thosetreated for the disease.
Antiretroviral therapy has turned HIV from a death sentenceinto a manageable condition but patients need to stay ontreatment for life, so there is a growing focus on makingmedication as well-tolerated as possible.
GSK has developed the new two-drug cocktail through itsmajority-owned ViiV Healthcare, in which Pfizer andShionogi also hold stakes.
Easing back from triple therapy is the opposite approach tothat being pursued by HIV market leader Gilead Sciences, which is banking on improving triple regimens, andanalysts at Berenberg said it could help GSK gain market share.
Results of the two Phase III studies, announced late onMonday, showed that the combination of GSK's dolutegravir andJohnson & Johnson's rilpivirine worked as well as three-or four-drug regimens.
Dominique Limet, chief executive of ViiV, said the resultswere "an important milestone in our understanding of how HIV canbe treated", since they represent the first late-stage trialevidence for the two-drug approach.
ViiV will release detailed findings from the studies at amedical meeting next year and plans to seek regulatory approvalfor the new treatment approach in 2017.
It is one of a number of pipeline projects that GSK isbanking on to revive its core prescription drug business as newchief executive Emma Walmsley prepares to take over from the endof March.
In all, the company expects important clinical results forbetween 20 and 30 experimental medicines by the end of 2018.
GSK also announced on Monday it was bolstering scientificexpertise on its board by establishing a new science committee,charged with overseeing research. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by Louise Heavens)
