Gilead and Merck's Once-Weekly HIV Treatment Shows Promise in Phase 3 Trials
Gilead Sciences and Merck have announced promising results from their Phase 3 ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2 trials, which evaluated a once-weekly oral HIV treatment regimen combining islatravir and lenacapavir. The trials demonstrated that this regimen effectively maintained virologic suppression in adults with HIV who switched from daily antiretroviral therapy. The ISLEND-1 trial showed that none of the participants who switched to the once-weekly regimen had HIV-1 RNA levels of 50 copies/mL or more at Week 48, compared to 0.3% of those who remained on the daily regimen BIKTARVY. Similarly, the ISLEND-2 trial found that 0.3% of participants on the once-weekly regimen had HIV-1 RNA levels of 50 copies/mL or more, compared to 1.3% on standard daily treatments. The safety profile of the once-weekly regimen was comparable to existing treatments, with no new safety concerns identified. 
