FLAMINGO: Dolutegravir vs. Darunavir for Initial Treatment of HIV

In previous phase III trials conducted among treatment-naive HIV-infected patients, dolutegravir-based therapy was found to be noninferior to raltegravir-containing combinations and superior to an efavirenz-based regimen. Now, in an open-label, manufacturer-sponsored, phase IIIb study called FLAMINGO, dolutegravir has been compared with a first-line protease inhibitor, ritonavir-boosted darunavir.

Treatment-naive HIV-infected patients were randomized to receive either dolutegravir or boosted darunavir, each combined with investigator-selected nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (67% received tenofovir/FTC, 33% abacavir/3TC). Most of the 484 patients included in the analysis were male (85%); the median baseline CD4 count was ~400 cell…