Dolutegravir Plus Lamivudine Dual Therapy in Treatment Naïve HIV-1 Patients

This study was done to see if the combination of two anti-HIV medicines, dolutegravir (DTG, Tivicay) and lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) taken once a day, provide a safe, effective, and well-tolerated treatment for HIV. DTG is a type of HIV medicine called an integrase inhibitor; 3TC is a type of HIV medicine called a reverse transcriptase inhibitor. DTG works by blocking integrase and 3TC works by blocking reverse transcriptase, two HIV proteins (enzymes). This prevents HIV from multiplying and lowers the viral load (amount of HIV in the blood). Both DTG and 3TC are currently part of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended regimens along with a third active drug. Since some HIV medicines have side effects and are costly, there is interest in whether HIV can be successfully controlled with fewer than three HIV drugs.