SYDNEY, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Results from an ongoing 48 week Phase II study of ISENTRESSTM (raltegravir), an investigational oral HIV integrase inhibitor, under development by Merck & Co., Inc., in combination with tenofovir (Viread®) and lamivudine (Epivir®) demonstrated that ISENTRESS provided reductions in HIV RNA to undetectable levels of less than 50 copies/mL (83 to 88 percent of patients) comparable to efavirenz (Sustiva®) combined with the same agents (87 percent of patients). These results were observed with all four doses of ISENTRESS studied (100 mg, 200 mg, 400 mg or 600 mg twice daily) in treatment-naïve (previously untreated) patients infected with HIV. In addition, ISENTRESS showed minimal impact on total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides and the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol. These results indicate that ISENTRESS provided sustained viral load reduction and minimal lipid effects when compared with the initial 24-week results presented at the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto.
