Sharon Walmsley, CM, MD, FRCPC

Future Directions in HIV Treatment Key Themes: Treatment Evolution: Continuous improvement in HIV medications regarding efficacy, tolerability, and convenience Long-Acting Formulations: Development of oral, subcutaneous, intramuscular, and intravenous options Combination Products: Future devices potentially combining HIV treatment/prevention with contraception or […]

Long-Acting Injectable Therapy – Real-World Evidence Key Themes: Injectable Option: Cabotegravir (integrase inhibitor) plus rilpivirine as an intramuscular injection given every other month Real-World Performance: The OPERA cohort followed nearly 3000 US patients receiving this combination outside clinical trials. Adherence

CD4 T-Cell Monitoring in HIV Management Key Themes: Immune Reconstitution: Average CD4 count increases of approximately 200 cells in the first year of effective therapy Laboratory Variability: CD4 count fluctuations of up to 20% between measurements, causing potential patient concern

New Drug Combination – Doravirine and Islatravir Key Themes: Novel Combination Therapy: A late-breaker study presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections showed noninferiority of doravirine (nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor [NNRTI]) plus islatravir (nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor

Switch Study From Any Prior Antiretroviral Therapy Key Themes: Broader Switch Strategy: A second companion study examined switching from any stable antiretroviral regimen to doravirine/islatravir. Noninferiority Results: The new combination demonstrated similar efficacy to continuing prior therapy with 90% to