GSK's ViiV upbeat on ultra-long-acting HIV treatment study

The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said the study showed that CAB-ULA allowed for dosing intervals of at least four months, marking a significant advancement in the development of ultra-long-acting injectable HIV treatment and prevention medications.

It said the findings, presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) in Denver, Colorado, demonstrated the potential of CAB-ULA to double the current dosing interval.

Importantly, the intramuscular administration of CAB-ULA exhibited a favourable safety and pharmacokinetic profile, supporting the feasibility of extending the dose interval.

With the promising results, ViiV was proceeding with a registrational study of CAB-ULA this year, focusing on its potential for HIV prevention in adults.

Additionally, future research would explore its use in combination with other medications to form a complete, ultra-long-acting HIV treatment regimen.

“The HIV community has told us of their desire for longer-acting medicines that can help alleviate the burden of daily treatment,” said ViiV’s head of research and development Kimberly Smith.

“ViiV Healthcare is a pioneer and leader in the development of long-acting HIV medicine, having already brought innovations through injectable therapies to the HIV community.

“This new formulation of cabotegravir (CAB-ULA) with a higher concentration and at least double the half-life puts us on the path toward delivering dosing every four months for HIV treatment and PrEP.”

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.