Raltegravir Non-Inferior to Nucleoside Based Regimens in SECOND-LINE Therapy with Lopinavir/Ritonavir over 96 Weeks: A Randomised Open Label Study for the Treatment Of HIV-1 Infection

ObjectiveTo determine the durability over 96 weeks of safety and efficacy of lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) and raltegravir (RAL) which was demonstrated to have non-inferior efficacy relative to a regimen of LPV/r with nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (N(t)RTIs) (Control) in primary analysis at 48 weeks.DesignOpen label, centrally randomised trial.SettingRecruitment was from 37 primary and secondary care sites from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America.Subjects541 HIV-1 infected adults virologically failing first-line non-NRTI + 2N(t)RTI, with no previous exposure to protease inhibitors or integrase strand transfer inhibitors were analysed, 425 completed 96 weeks follow up on randomised therapy.InterventionRandomisation was 1:1 to Control or RAL.Main outcome measuresDifferences between the proportion of participants with plasma HIV-1 RNA (VL) ResultsVL ConclusionAt 96 weeks, both RAL and Control maintained efficacy greater than 75% and continued to demonstrate similar safety profiles. These results support the use of a combination LPV/r and RAL regimen as an option following failure of 1st line NNRTI + 2N(t)RTIs.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT00931463