QUAD HIV drug more effective than other therapies

New results from a pivotal Phase III trial of QUAD (elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), from Gilead Sciences, for HIV-1 infection in treatment-na�ve patients, has met its primary objective of non-inferiority at week 48 as compared to ritonavir-boosted atazanavir plus Truvada. The primary endpoint analysis of Study 103 indicated that 90 percent of patients in the QUAD arm compared to 87 percent in the ritonavir-boosted atazanavir plus Truvada arm (95 percent CI for the difference: -1.9 percent to 7.8 percent) achieved HIV RNA loading of less than 50 copies/mL through week 48. The discontinuation rate due to adverse events was higher in the ritonavir-boosted atazanavir arm (5.1 percent) as compared to the Quad (3.1 percent).Other adverse events and laboratory abnormalities were similar between the two arms.