A Potential Cost-Saving Strategy with Dolutegravir and Lamivudine

The availability of newer, more potent antiretroviral treatment (ART) regimens has prompted reevaluation of the need for standard three-drug ART combinations. Dolutegravir (DTG), a highly potent and well-tolerated integrase strand transfer inhibitor with a high barrier to resistance, is a promising candidate drug for dual therapy. Clinical trials are under way evaluating dual therapy with DTG and lamivudine (3TC) for both initial and maintenance ART. If highly efficacious, this combination could generate considerable cost savings.

Now, researchers have conducted cost-effectiveness and budget-impact analyses using a simulation cohort whose characteristics matched those of untreated HIV-infected patients in the U.S. Four ART strategies were ev…