Four decades after the start of the HIV epidemic, patients whose virus has become resistant to multiple therapies have a new treatment option. Gilead Sciences’ Sunlenca is now cleared to be used in adults whose HIV-1 infection is multi-drug resistant due to high levels of prior treatment. The drug is targeted at the many HIV-infected individuals who cannot achieve viral suppression—even with the range of treatments available.
Viral suppression occurs when the virus is reduced to undetectable levels, which makes people unable to spread the virus, Jared Baeten, MD, PhD, Gilead’s vice president of clinical development, explained in an interview with Fierce Pharma.