GSK Korea unveils long-acting HIV injection at infectious disease meeting

GSK Korea said Monday that it held a symposium on “A New Era of HIV Treatment: Changes in the Daily Lives of People Living with HIV Due to Long-acting Injectables” at the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases (KSID)' autumn conference last Friday and Saturday.

The symposium, the first to introduce GSK's long-acting HIV treatments to healthcare professionals, featured Professor Kim Yeon-sook of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Chungnam National University Hospital. Professor Kim shared the latest advances in HIV treatment, including the history of HIV treatment, unmet needs in the current treatment landscape, and how long-acting HIV treatment options are changing the quality of life for people living with HIV.

“Korea remains one of the countries where HIV stigma and discrimination are still high, which can affect adherence and lead to virological failure and resistance to treatment,” Professor Kim said.

Surveys of people living with HIV in Korea have shown that they feel psychologically burdened by taking oral medications due to “fear of disclosure or exposure of their HIV status” and “being reminded of their status while taking medication every day.”

For instance, in a 2019 survey of people living with HIV in 25 countries, people living with HIV in Korea and East Asia reported hiding their medications or skipping doses to prevent exposure to their status.

“In Korea, HIV remains a disease with high unmet need in terms of medication adherence and quality of life (QoL),” Professor Kim said. “In this regard, the introduction of long-acting HIV injectables will be an important turning point to positively improve the lives of people living with HIV in Korea.”

The world's first long-acting HIV injectable, Vocabria (cabotegravir 600 mg) + Rekambys (rilpivirine 900 mg) combination, which was introduced, can be injected once a month for two months as initial therapy and once every two months as maintenance therapy. For people living with HIV who were previously taking a once-daily regimen, the bimonthly injectable maintenance regimen will significantly reduce the number of injections from 365 to six per year, making HIV treatment more convenient.

According to GSK, the SOLAR study, a head-to-head comparison of the long-acting HIV injectable Vocabria+Rekambys with existing three-drug oral regimens (BIC/FTC/TAF), confirmed the Vocabria+Rekambys combination's non-inferiority in achieving viral suppression and maintenance.

In addition, despite high levels of treatment satisfaction with the existing oral regimen, patients who switched to the long-acting injectable regimen had higher levels of treatment satisfaction at 11-12 months post-treatment than those who continued the existing oral regimen. As a result, more than 90 percent of people living with HIV who received long-acting HIV injectable treatment said they preferred long-acting HIV injectable treatment.

The Vocabria+ReKambys combination received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in February 2022 for treating HIV-1 infection in adult patients who are virologically suppressed (HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL), have no history of treatment failure and have no known or suspected resistance to cabotegravir or rilpivirine. GSK plans to launch the combination next year.

“Long-acting HIV injectables are significant because they reduce the fear of disclosure and social stigma that people with HIV face in real life, allowing them to experience life as never before,” Professor Kim said.

“GSK and Viiv Healthcare are committed to continuing to provide innovative treatment options that can improve the quality of life for people living with HIV,” said Yang Yoo-jin, head of HIV and Anti-Cancer Business Unit at GSK Korea. “We are aware of inquiries from hospitals and healthcare providers in Korea, as some countries have already launched these medicines. GSK Korea will do its best to quickly introduce the Vocabria and Rekambys combination injection regimen in Korea.”