Study Results for Two Combination NRTIs

A study published in the January 19, 2006, New England Journal of Medicine indicates that Gilead's fixeddose combination pill Truvada (tenofovir/ emtricitabine) may work better than GlaxoSmithKline's Combivir (AZT/3TC) when used as a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) background regimen. In the open-label Gilead study, 80% of patients taking tenofovir/emtricitabine achieved viral loads below 50 copies/mL, compared with 70% in the AZT/3TC arm. While the virological failure rates were very similar--and very low--for both regimens, tenofovir/ emtricitabine was better tolerated. The researchers concluded that tenofovir/ emtricitabine proved superior in terms of virologic suppression, CD4 response, and adverse events.

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