Studies from Gilead Sciences Inc. Provide New Data on HIV/AIDS (Antiretroviral therapy switch among Medicare beneficiaries with HIV): Immune System Diseases and Conditions – HIV/AIDS

2026 MAR 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Biotech Business Daily -- New research on Immune System Diseases and Conditions - HIV/AIDS is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating from Foster City, California, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Persistence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is essential for optimal HIV treatment outcomes. People with HIV (PWH) enrolled in Medicare often have a higher prevalence of comorbidities, which can negatively impact persistence, leading to suboptimal HIV outcomes.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Gilead Sciences Inc., “To compare ART switch patterns among PWH insured by Medicare. Using Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicare Advantage claims data from January 2017 to December 2022, a retrospective cohort study of treatment-experienced PWH aged 18 years and older and on ART was conducted. ART regimens included bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (B/F/TAF), dolutegravir/lamivudine (DTG/3TC), dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine (DTG/ABC/3TC), or multitablet regimens (MTRs; dolutegravir + emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide [DTG + F/TAF] or dolutegravir + emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate [DTG + F/TDF]). An analysis of PWH who had mental health and/or substance use disorders was also conducted. Treatment switch by ART regimen was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves, log-rank tests, and Cox proportional hazards models after using inverse probability treatment weighting to balance across groups. A total of 30,205 treatment-experienced PWH were included. PWH who initiated DTG/3TC, DTG/ABC/3TC, and MTRs on the index date had 1.28 (95% CI = 1.13-1.45), 2.67 (95% CI = 2.47-2.89), and 5.37 (95% CI = 4.60-6.26) times higher hazard ratio of switching ART, respectively, compared with PWH indexed on B/F/TAF (all < 0.0001). Similar results were observed among PWH with mental health and/or substance use disorders. Medicare-insured PWH indexed on B/F/TAF had lower risk of treatment switch compared with other ART regimens, both overall and in the subgroup with mental health and/or substance use disorders.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “These findings may inform targeted strategies for optimal treatment selection for PWH.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Antiretroviral therapy switch among Medicare beneficiaries with HIV. Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, 2026:1-10. Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy can be contacted at: Acad Managed Care Pharmacy, 100 N Pitt St, 400, Alexandria, VA 22314-3134, USA.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Uche Mordi, Gilead Sciences Inc. Inc., Foster City, CA. Additional authors for this research include Mary J. Christoph, Suying Li, Haifeng Guo, TingTing Gong, Travis Lim, Seojin Park, Woodie Zachry and Phyllis C. Tien.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy is: Acad Managed Care Pharmacy, 100 N Pitt St, 400, Alexandria, VA 22314-3134, USA.

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