Efficacy and safety of twice-daily versus three-times daily saquinavir soft gelatin capsules as part of triple combination therapy for HIV-1 infection.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine whether a triple therapy regimen incorporating twice-daily saquinavir is as effective as a three-times daily regimen.


METHODS
This was an open-label, Phase III, multicentre, 48-week study involving 837 HIV-1-infected patients randomised to one of the following: saquinavir soft gel capsule (SGC) 1200 mg three-times daily, plus two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) (arm A); saquinavir SGC 1,600 mg twice-daily, plus two NRTIs (arm B); saquinavir SGC 1,200 mg twice-daily and nelfinavir 1,250 mg twice-daily, plus a single NRTI (arm C). The primary outcome measure was the virological response in arm A versus B and in arm A versus C with respect to the percentage of patients whose plasma HIV-1 RNA levels fell below the level of quantification for the Amplicor assay (<400 copies/ml) at weeks 24 and 48.


RESULTS
At 48 weeks, the percentage of patients with plasma HIV-1 RNA levels <400 copies/ml was 47.1% (arm A), 45.3% (arm B) and 42.7% (arm C) in the intention-to-treat analysis. The treatment difference between arm B-arm A was -1.8% (95% confidence intervals -10.1, 6.5) and for arm C-arm A was -4.5% (95% confidence intervals -12.7, 3.7) in the intention-to-treat analysis. These differences fell within the maximum allowable difference (+/- 12%) for arm B compared with arm A. At week 24, the percentage of patients with HIV-1 RNA levels <400 copies/ml was 59.6% (arm A), 57.6% (arm B) and 51.3% (arm C).


CONCLUSIONS
A twice-daily triple therapy regimen incorporating saquinavir SGC plus two NRTIs was of equivalent efficacy to the three-times daily regimen studied. All regimens were generally well tolerated.
Wheat
L Joseph
LJ
Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Ind, USA.
Farthing
Charles
C
Cohen
Calvin
C
Pierone
Gerald
G
Lalezari
Jay
J
Pilson
Robert S
RS
Siemon-Hryczyk
Peggy
P
D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D002214:Capsules / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D019258:Saquinavir / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D002214:Capsules; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors; D008055:Lipids; D012367:RNA, Viral; D019258:Saquinavir