HealthDay News — According to an abstract presented at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in New Orleans, the intravenous drug, ibalizumab, might revolutionize the treatment of HIV patients who are unresponsive to existing drugs.
The study authors tested the drug in 40 patients with multi-drug-resistant HIV in this phase 3 study. The patients had been infected with HIV for an average of 21 years.
The researchers found that after 7 days, 83% of patients showed a significant response. No treatment-related serious adverse events or discontinuations were reported during this time period.
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Study author Jacob Lalezari, MD, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and medical director for Quest Clinical Research, told HealthDay that this drug offered a “double return”. This can potentially prevent treated patients from transmitting the virus to other people, he said.
The study was funded by TaiMed Biologics, the manufacturer of ibalizumab. The research team included employees of the company.
Reference
Lalezari J, et al. Primary Efficacy Endpoint and Safety Results of Ibalizumab (IBA) in a Phase 3 Study of Heavily Treatment-Experienced Patients with Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) HIV-1 Infection. Abstract presented at: Annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America; October 2016; New Orleans, LA.
