Ritonavir-Boosted Saquinavir Is Comparable to Lopinavir/r in Treatment-Naive Patients

Ritonavir-boosted saquinavir was noninferior to lopinavir/r in an international trial but currently offers few advantages over other PIs.

Lopinavir/ritonavir became the PI of choice for initial therapy several years ago, after demonstrating superior antiviral efficacy over nelfinavir in a head-to-head study (JW AIDS Clin Care Sep 1 2002). Since then, industry-sponsored trials have compared lopinavir/r to a number of other boosted PIs, including fosamprenavir (JW AIDS Clin Care Sep 18 2006), atazanavir (JW AIDS Clin Care Aug 25 2008), darunavir (JW AIDS Clin Care Aug 11 2008), and now saquinavir.

In this study — called “Gemini” for some reason — 337 treatment-naive patients were randomized to receive lopinavir/r twice daily (in either the gel-cap or newer tablet formulation) or ritonavir-boosted saquinavir (two 500-mg tablets of saquinavir, plus a 100-mg tablet of ritonavir, al…

Reviewing Author

Paul E. Sax, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardGilead Sciences; GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV; Merck; Shionogi

Grant/Research SupportNIH; Gilead Sciences; ViiV

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Clinical Infectious Diseases

Paul E. Sax, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardGilead Sciences; GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV; Merck; Shionogi

Grant/Research SupportNIH; Gilead Sciences; ViiV

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Clinical Infectious Diseases

Ritonavir-Boosted Saquinavir Is Comparable to Lopinavir/r in Treatment-Naive Patients

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Reviewing Author