Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) and GlaxoSmithKline Plc (NYSE:GSK) will battle head-on in a coming HIV/AIDS conference to reveal clinical test trial results for HIV treatment. The purpose of this face-off is to focus on Gilead’s drug Bictegravir or GS-9883, which is an integrase inhibitor, and liken it to GlaxoSmithKline’s drug, Dolutegravir, also known as Tivicy.
Dolutegravir was approved by the American Food and Drink Administration (FDA) to treat the HIV infection. It is speculated that Bictegravir may have a potency advantage over Dolutegravir and less side effects compared to the latter. This comes after Gilead’s drug called, Genvoya also a HIV drug was approved in 2015 and had whopping sales ~$1.5 billion.
The drug, Bictegravir is in its close of Phase 3 trials so the results from the testing that will feature in the conference are the Phase 2 trial study. For fairness, the comparison is being done against Dolutegravir’s Phase 2 study trials as well. In the trials, the two drugs, combined with Descovy, are given to patients specifically selected for the tests.
GlaxoSmithKline, on its own side will showcase results from two trials from Phase 3 tests which evaluates a two-drug combination. The two drugs are Dolutegravir and a Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) drug, Edurant, also known as Rilpivirine.
Dolutegravir as a drug has been applauded for being effective in preventing the HIV virus from developing drug resistance. This is an advantageous strength that GlaxoSmithKline will bank on and play against Gilead. This has proven a success in recent presentations and the two-drug discovery can also be an economic discovery that could successfully treat with minimal side-effects. The two-drug discovery also marks an important shift from the three-drug standard regimen.
The CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, Andrew Witty, banks Dolutegravir’s success on its ability to prevent drug resistance from the HIV virus. In a report, he claims that the drug has an impressive resistance profile, which is not easy to beat. This, he says, makes Dolutegravir an extremely impressive molecule.
The presentations are to be done around mid-February at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle, Washington.
Gilead stock closed at $65.59, after declining $1.24 or 1.86% yesterday. GSK stock closed at $40.02, witnessing an increase of $0.27 per share.