Edurant (rilpivirine) / J&J - LARVOL DELTA

Direct Initiation of Long-Acting Cabotegravir Plus Rilpivirine in People with HIV and Suboptimal Virologic Suppression: A Randomized Trial. (PubMed, Clin Infect Dis) - "Among people with HIV and viremia associated with adherence challenges, immediate initiation of LA CAB+RPV resulted in higher rates of viral suppression than continued oral ART, supporting its use beyond populations with stable suppression."

Journal • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

On the Verge of the 3000th Publication: Reflections on Deceptions, Successes and Perspectives. (PubMed, Molecules) - "A lifelong career devoted to the development of specific antiviral agents eventually yielded, besides (almost) 3000 publications, about ten antiviral compounds that were approved and marketed as antiviral drugs, i.e., DHPA (Duviragel®), BVDU (Zostex®, Mevir®, Brivir®…), VACV (Zelitrex®, Valtrex®), d4T (Stavudine®), emivirine (Coactinon®), rilpivirine (Edurant®), HPMPC (Vistide®), PMEA (Hepsera®), tenofovir (Viread®) and AMD-3100 (Mozobil®), with the latter as a hematopoietic stem cell mobilizer. The targeted viruses for these compounds were herpes simplex virus (HSV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and hepatitis B virus (HBV). For other viruses, such as filo-, rhabdo-, arena-, myxo-, polyoma- and papillomaviruses, strategies have been elaborated that should facilitate future developments of antiviral drugs."

Journal • Review • Cytomegalovirus Infection • Hepatitis B • Herpes Simplex • Herpes Zoster • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • Inflammation • Oncology • Varicella Zoster

Patient-Reported Outcomes with Long-Acting Cabotegravir and Rilpivirine in People Living with HIV. (PubMed, Patient Prefer Adherence) - "The subanalysis of the oral ART group revealed no significant differences in MOS-HIV and IEXPAC questionnaires, compared to LA therapy. PLWH receiving CAB+RPV LA as an alternative to daily oral ART, demonstrate high satisfaction, maintained quality of life and positive relationships with healthcare professionals."

Journal • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

Sustained Virologic Suppression After Discontinuation of Long-acting Cabotegravir/Rilpivirine: A Two-case Series Highlighting Unexpected Heterogeneity in Pharmacokinetics and Viral Control. (PubMed, Open Forum Infect Dis) - "The literature reports another similar case of sustained virologic control 18 months after LA CAB/RPV discontinuation despite inadequate adherence on oral antiretroviral treatment. Altogether, these cases underscore the need for further research to better understand the pharmacological and viro-immunological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon."

Clinical • Heterogeneity • Journal • PK/PD data • Anal Carcinoma • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • Oncology • Solid Tumor

Managing HIV in the extreme: Viral load and drug monitoring in a patient with BMI > 60 on long-acting cabotegravir/rilpivirine therapy. (PubMed, Br J Clin Pharmacol) - "Based on TDM concentrations, monthly dose titration from standard CAB/RPV 400 mg/600 mg to 600 mg/900 mg increased trough concentrations with VL suppression (<200 copies mL-1) maintained. TDM may be an additional tool in this population with high BMI values to optimize CAB/RPV dosing strategies as data accumulate in this high-risk group for viral rebound with LA-I therapy."

Journal • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • Obesity

Changes in RPV Resistance-Related Mutations Among Antiretroviral Therapy-Naïve HIV-1-Positive Individuals - China, 2004-2023. (PubMed, China CDC Wkly) - "Rilpivirine (RPV) is currently included in first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens in China...Polymorphic RAMs and NNRTI cross-resistance mutations together account for the increased RPV resistance in China. Additional phenotypic data and clinical research are needed to verify the efficacy of RPV-based ART in patients infected with subtypes CRF65_cpx, CRF55_01B, and CRF08_BC."

Journal • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

Pharmacogenomic Variability in Adolescents and Youth with Virologic Rebound While Receiving Injectable Cabotegravir/Rilpivirine: A Multi-case Series. (PubMed, Int J Antimicrob Agents) - "This case series identifies clustering of multiple pharmacogenomic variants among patients experiencing virologic abnormalities while receiving LAI-CAB/RPV. Although these variants are relatively common individually, their combined occurrence warrants further investigation. Prospective pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenomic studies are needed to determine whether host genetic variability contributes to long-acting ART outcomes."

Biomarker • Journal • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • CYP2C19 • CYP3A5

National cross-sectional survey on acquired HIV drug resistance in Haiti in 2023: warnings resistance to dolutegravir (AIDS 2026) - "3.77% of HIVs were resistant to dolutegravir and bictegravir, 4.4% to cabotegravir, 4.72% to raltegravir, and 5.03% to elvitegravir. Additionally, 15.19% of the viral strains were resistant to abacavir, 13.92% to lamivudine and emtricitabine, 6.65% to zidovudine, 8.23% to stavudine and didanosine, and 4.13% to tenofovir...Furthermore, some HIVs strains developed resistance against efavirenz (49.37%), nevirapine (50%), Rilpivirine (20.25%), Etravirine (12.66%), and doravirine (3.61%). Finally, HIV genome resistance was 0.63% against atazanavir/ritonavir and indinavir/ritonavir, 0.95% against lopinavir/ritonavir and 0.32% against darunavir/ritonavir. HIV acquired pharmacoresistance is moderate in Haiti and requires innovating adapted strategy for preventing its development, its transmission, and for protecting PLHIV health, while emphasizing on children and male individuals."

Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • Respiratory Diseases

Incidence of mutational patterns affecting doravirine or/and rilpivirine in people living with HIV and previous failure with NNRTIs efavirenz or nevirapine (AIDS 2026) - "BACKGROUND: The growing use of new non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) such as doravirine (DOR) or long-acting rilpivirine (RPV) makes necessary to evaluate the impact of previous failure to NNRTIs. Our results confirm that doravirine resistance in NNRTI-failing PLWH is lower than resistance to other NNRTIs currently used. However, these data suggest considering carefully genotypic resistance test results before the use of RPV or DOR in the clinical setting in those PLWH with previous failure to NNRTIs."

Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • CD4

Association between integrase inhibitors (INSTIs) and tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) and moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the RESPOND HIV cohort collaboration (AIDS 2026) - "We assessed CKD risks associated with (1) INSTIs vs non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) and (2) TAF vs lamivudine (3TC), with both comparators considered kidney neutral...To account for artefactual creatinine increases when starting INSTIs and rilpivirine, baseline was defined as 6 months after starting treatment... After accounting for differences in participant characteristics, there was no increased CKD risk associated with INSTIs or TAF, although confidence intervals were relatively wide."

Cardiovascular • Chronic Kidney Disease • Diabetes • Hepatitis B • Hepatitis C • Hepatology • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Hypertension • Infectious Disease • Inflammation • Metabolic Disorders • Nephrology • Renal Disease • CD4

Systematic monitoring of patent applications and pre-grant oppositions as highly effective tools against evergreening practices (AIDS 2026) - "Within one and a half years of systematic monitoring of patent applications in Ukraine eight pre-grant oppositions were filed with the Ukrainian Patent Office by 100% LIFE under Make Medicines Affordable campaign, targeting the following medicines: rilpivirine, lenacapavir, delamanid, bedaquiline long-acting formulations, the HPV vaccine, and pembrolizumab. Following the filing of one of the oppositions concerning rilpivirine in 2024 substantive examination of the related patent application has not commenced and is not expected to commence. The remaining oppositions and corresponding patent applications are currently under examination by the Ukrainian Patent Office."

Grant • Gene Therapies • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

Cabotegravir/rilpivirine in pregnancy: early insights from clinical practice. (PubMed, AIDS) - "With the challenges and potential risks associated with interrupting CAB/RPV before or during pregnancy, we have established an approach to address this. Maintaining CAB/RPV q monthly or supplementing CAB/RPV q2 months with oral therapy starting at 34-36 weeks' gestation until delivery are potential approaches that allow CAB/RPV to be administered uninterrupted during pregnancy."

Journal • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

A rapid and inexpensive phenotypic assay for measuring resistance to existing and emerging HIV drugs (AIDS 2026) - "We measured inhibition of HIV-RT activity (viral load ~2500) by the nucleoside RT inhibitor lamivudine-5’-triphosphate (3TC-TP), nucleoside RT translocation inhibitor MK-8591-TP, and non-nucleoside RT inhibitors doravirine and rilpivirine. This PERT assay meets WHO analytical sensitivity requirements for DRT. With its high sensitivity, short duration (~2 hours), compatibility with existing and emerging RT inhibitors, and ability to leverage existing instruments in high- and low-resource settings, this enzymatic assay has the potential to significantly improve access to routine HIV DRT in point-of-care and clinical trial settings."

Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

Real-World Safety and Effectiveness of Cabotegravir in People Living with HIV: Interim Report of a Post-marketing Surveillance in Japan. (PubMed, Adv Ther) - "This interim analysis indicates that CAB therapy is safe, with no new safety signals, and effective, as demonstrated by sustained virological suppression and stable CD4+ cell counts. These findings are consistent with outcomes reported in overseas and international collaborative clinical studies."

Journal • P4 data • Real-world evidence • Allergy • Diabetes • Hepatitis B • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Immunology • Infectious Disease • Inflammation • Metabolic Disorders • Musculoskeletal Diseases • Musculoskeletal Pain • Pain • Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus • CD4

Effect of Non-nucleoside Resistance-Associated Mutations on the Effectiveness of Long-Acting Cabotegravir + Rilpivirine Therapy: Insights From the Real-World RELATIVITY Cohort. (PubMed, Open Forum Infect Dis) - "In a real-world setting, CAB + RPV LA demonstrated high effectiveness in PWH with pre-existing NNRTI RAMs that do not compromise RPV susceptibility, including K103N. While no failures were seen in those with RPV-associated RAMs, these results should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size."

Journal • Real-world evidence • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

How place, trust, and care location influence rural and non-metropolitan patients' preferences for decentralized long-acting injectable HIV therapy: A mixed-methods study. (PubMed, BMC Health Serv Res) - "High interest in CAB + RPV LA among non-metropolitan PWH underscores the need for flexible, decentralized delivery models that reduce logistical barriers while maintaining trusted provider relationships."

Journal • Fatigue • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

Scaffold hopping yields novel furo[3,2-d]pyrimidine NNRTIs with optimized antiviral potency, enhanced selectivity, and reduced hERG liability. (PubMed, Acta Pharm Sin B) - "Considering the exceptional anti-HIV-1 potency of rilpivirine (RPV) against diverse mutant strains and its remarkable human ether-a-go-go related gene (hERG) potassium channel inhibition (IC50 = 0.50 μmol/L) as well as low selectivity (SI = 3989), a series of novel furo-[3,2-d]pyrimidine derivatives were rationally designed through a scaffold hopping strategy...Besides, no apparent cytotoxicity (CC50 = 314.8 μmol/L) and negligible suppression of CYP isoenzymes were detected. Overall, these findings illustrated that 10 was a potentially promising NNRTI for HIV-1 therapy."

Journal • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

Targeted Therapies for Immunological Non-Responders in People With HIV: A Multicenter Clinical Study (clinicaltrials.gov) - P2 | N=21 | Recruiting | Sponsor: Beijing 302 Hospital | Phase classification: P1 ➔ P2

Phase classification • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • CD4

Targeted Therapies for Immunological Non-Responders in People With HIV: A Multicenter Clinical Study (clinicaltrials.gov) - P1 | N=21 | Recruiting | Sponsor: Beijing 302 Hospital | Phase classification: P2 ➔ P1

Phase classification • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • CD4

Effectiveness of Bictegravir/Emtricitabine/Tenofovir Alafenamide in Virologically Suppressed People with HIV on Any Antiretroviral Therapy Regimen: The Retrospective ESSENTIAL Study. (PubMed, Infect Dis Ther) - "In this large real-world cohort of virologically suppressed individuals, characterized by ageing, high comorbidity burden, and frequent concomitant medication use, switching to BIC/FTC/TAF was associated with sustained virological control and good tolerability over 12 months, including among those transitioning from RPV-based regimens. These findings provide additional real-world evidence supporting BIC/FTC/TAF as a durable and well-tolerated switch strategy in routine clinical practice."

Journal • Retrospective data • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

A Roll-over Study With Rilpivirine for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Infected Participants Who Participated in Rilpivirine Pediatric Studies (clinicaltrials.gov) - P2 | N=48 | Active, not recruiting | Sponsor: Janssen Sciences Ireland UC | Trial completion date: Jun 2027 ➔ Aug 2026

Trial completion date • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • Pediatrics

Real world evaluation of HIV-1 reservoir and resistance in virologically suppressed people after 52 weeks of treatment with long-acting cabotegravir + rilpivirine. (PubMed, Int J Antimicrob Agents) - "In this real-world study, a stable HIV-1 DNA over 52 weeks of CAB+RPV LA treatment was observed. A substantial proportion of participants harboured NNRTI or INSTI major mutations, mostly APOBEC-context, without conferring true resistance. These findings emphasize the importance of a careful interpretation of proviral resistance."

HEOR • Journal • Real-world evidence • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • CD4

Virologic Outcomes After LA ART Initiation with and without Viremia in Two Large U.S. Clinic Cohorts. (PubMed, Clin Infect Dis) - "Long-acting cabotegravir/rilpivirine supports virologic suppression among people with HIV (PWH) facing adherence challenges. In two large U.S. cohorts(n=1,070), 96% of viremic PWH achieved virologic suppression at a 4-week median. However, blips/failure were more frequent among PWH initiating with viremia, underscoring the need for careful monitoring and optimization of long-acting treatment."

Journal • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease

Repurposing Antiretroviral Drugs for Urological Cancers: Differential Effects of Protease Inhibitors and NNRTIs on Prostate and Bladder Cancer Cells. (PubMed, Cells) - "This study evaluated the anticancer potential of three antiretroviral drugs, namely ritonavir (RIT), saquinavir (SAQ), and rilpivirine (RPV), in PC-3 and UM-UC-5 cancer cell lines, using MTT, clonogenic, wound healing, toxicity assessment with fibroblast cells, and DCFDA assays; this last method included efavirenz (EFV) and etravirine (ETV) for intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Generally, all drugs showed minimal toxicity in non-malignant cells, with SAQ exhibiting some toxicity but only for concentrations higher than those required for anticancer activity. Overall, these findings suggest that antiretroviral, especially protease inhibitors, may cause anticancer effects, although these are concentration- and context-dependent, and further investigation is needed to understand the mechanisms involved."

Journal • Bladder Cancer • Genito-urinary Cancer • Oncology • Solid Tumor • Urethral Cancer

Ultrasound for the determination of appropriate needle length for intragluteal injection of long-acting rilpivirine-cabotegravir. (PubMed, HIV Med) - "Ultrasound is a simple and accessible tool to help optimize drug injection in case of obesity or gynoid fat distribution and investigate injection technique-related issues in cases of VF."

Journal • Genetic Disorders • Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Infectious Disease • Obesity