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ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GSK, with Pfizer and Shionogi as shareholders, today announced the European Commission has granted Marketing Authorisation for Triumeq PD, a dispersible tablet formulation of the fixed dose combination of abacavir, dolutegravir and lamivudine for the treatment of paediatric patients weighing 14 kg to <25 kg with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). This authorisation includes the label extension of Triumeq tablet, lowering the minimum weight that a child with HIV-1 can be prescribed this medicine from 40 kg to 25 kg.
Despite significant advances in HIV treatment and care, only 52% of children living with HIV (under 14 years old) had access to optimised paediatric formulations of antiretrovirals in 2021. The EU Marketing Authorisation follows the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Triumeq PD in 2022. This provides access to age-appropriate formulations of dolutegravir for a younger population and helps to close the gap between HIV treatment options available for adults and children living with HIV.
Deborah?Waterhouse, CEO at ViiV Healthcare,?said: “Today, we are delighted to have received the EU Marketing Authorisation for Triumeq PD, expanding the options for child-friendly HIV treatments available in Europe. At ViiV Healthcare, we are committed to pushing the boundaries to develop medicines that address the unmet needs of the estimated 1.7 million children living with HIV, bringing us closer to achieving our mission of ensuring no one living with HIV – regardless of their age - is left behind.”
Amanda Ely, CEO at Chiva said: “Currently, young children face significant challenges due to limited age-appropriate treatment and therefore fewer children are achieving viral suppression, compared to adults.1 Through improved treatment options, increased access, and community support, we can increase the number of children living with HIV achieving viral suppression. Furthermore, by successfully initiating young children onto age-appropriate treatments, it can help them foster a positive relationship with their lifelong treatment regimen early on.”
Triumeq is a fixed-dose combination containing the INSTI dolutegravir and the NRTIs abacavir and lamivudine.
Two essential steps in the HIV life cycle are replication – when the virus turns its RNA copy into DNA – and integration – the moment when viral DNA becomes part of the host cell’s DNA. These processes require two enzymes called reverse transcriptase and integrase. NRTIs and integrase inhibitors interfere with the action of the two enzymes to prevent the virus from replicating and further infecting cells.
ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GSK and Pfizer dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV and for people who are at risk of acquiring HIV. Shionogi became a ViiV shareholder in October 2012. The company’s aims are to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV and AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and innovative medicines for HIV treatment and prevention, as well as support communities affected by HIV.
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