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On March 28, 2012, The Food and Drug Administration approved changes to the Isentress (raltegravir) label to include data from the SWITCHMRK trials (switch of suppressed subjects from lopinavir/ritonavir to raltegravir).
The following information was added to Section 14 Clinical Studies:
Switch of Suppressed Subjects from Lopinavir (+) Ritonavir to Raltegravir
The SWITCHMRK 1 & 2 Phase 3 studies evaluated HIV-1 infected subjects receiving suppressive therapy (HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL on a stable regimen of lopinavir 200 mg (+) ritonavir 50 mg 2 tablets twice daily plus at least 2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors for >3 months) and randomized them 1:1 to either continue lopinavir (+) ritonavir (n=174 and n=178, SWITCHMRK 1 & 2, respectively) or replace lopinavir (+) ritonavir with ISENTRESS 400 mg twice daily (n=174 and n=176, respectively). The primary virology endpoint was the proportion of subjects with HIV-1 RNA less than 50 copies/mL at Week 24 with a pre-specified non-inferiority margin of -12% for each study; and the frequency of adverse events up to 24 weeks.
Subjects with a prior history of virological failure were not excluded and the number of previous antiretroviral therapies was not limited.
These studies were terminated after the primary efficacy analysis at Week 24 because they each failed to demonstrate non-inferiority of switching to ISENTRESS versus continuing on lopinavir (+) ritonavir. In the combined analysis of these studies at Week 24, suppression of HIV-1 RNA to less than 50 copies/mL was maintained in 82.3% of the ISENTRESS group versus 90.3% of the lopinavir (+) ritonavir group. Clinical and laboratory adverse events occurred at similar frequencies in the treatment groups.
The complete updated labeling can be viewed at Drugs@FDA, on the FDA web site.
Isentress is an HIV integrase strand transfer inhibitor manufactured by Merck & Co., Inc.
Richard Klein
Office of Special Health Issues
Food and Drug Administration
Kimberly Struble
Division of Antiviral Drug Products
Food and Drug Administration
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