HHS Pediatric Antiretroviral Treatment Guidelines Updated

HHS Pediatric Antiretroviral Treatment Guidelines Updated

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Panel on Antiretroviral Therapy and Medical Management of Children Living with HIV (the Panel) revised several sections of the Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in Pediatric HIV Infection to update content and recommendations about the use of the antiretroviral drugs bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (Biktarvy) and dolutegravir in children and adolescents. The updates are summarized below.

What to Start: Regimens Recommended for Initial Therapy of Antiretroviral-Naive Children

• Table 7. Antiretroviral Regimens Recommended for Initial Therapy for HIV Infection in Children, Figure 1, and the associated text now include new recommendations for the use of bictegravir and dolutegravir in children:
• The fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablet Biktarvy is now a Preferred integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI)-based regimen for adolescents aged ≥12 years and weighing ≥25 kg (AI) and an Alternative INSTI-based regimen for children aged ≥6 years and weighing ≥25 kg (AI).
• Dolutegravir plus two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors is now an Alternative INSTI-based regimen for children aged ≥3 years and weighing ≥20 kg to < 25 kg (AI*). It was previously recommended only for children weighing ≥25 kg. Data are limited on the efficacy and safety of administering dolutegravir to children weighing ≥20 kg to < 25 kg and dolutegravir pharmacokinetics vary more among children in this weight group than among those weighing ≥25 kg.
• Table 8. Advantages and Disadvantages of Antiretroviral Components Recommended for Initial Therapy in Children now includes information about Biktarvy.

What Not to Start: Regimens Not Recommended for Initial Therapy of Antiretroviral-Naive Children

• Bictegravir was removed from this section following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the use of Biktarvy in children and adolescents weighing ≥25 kg.

Modifying Antiretroviral Regimens in Children with Sustained Virologic Suppression on Antiretroviral Therapy

• Table 16. Examples of Changes in Antiretroviral Regimen Components for Children with Sustained Virologic Suppression has been updated to reflect revised recommendations for the use of bictegravir and dolutegravir.

Appendix A: Pediatric Antiretroviral Drug Information

• Certain drug sections and Tables 1 and 2 were updated to include new pediatric data and dosing information for bictegravir and dolutegravir, including a new FDC tablet.
• Bictegravir, which is available only in the FDC tablet Biktarvy, is now approved by the FDA for use in children and adolescents weighing ≥25 kg.
• Based on recent data, the dosing recommendations for dolutegravir have been revised to allow use in children weighing ≥20 kg, although dolutegravir is not approved by the FDA for use in children weighing <30 1="" 2.="" a="" added="" adults="" agency="" and="" approved="" been="" compares="" dolutegravir.="" dolutegravir="" dosing="" european="" fda="" fdc="" for="" has="" health="" in="" kg.="" lamivudine="" li="" medicines="" new="" organization="" ovato="" panel="" recommendations="" section="" sections="" table="" tables="" tablet="" that="" the="" this="" to="" use="" was="" world="">
• The Emtricitabine and Tenofovir Alafenamide sections have been updated to reflect changes in the dosing recommendations for FDC tablets that contain bictegravir or dolutegravir.

For a complete list of updates, please see What's New in the Guidelines. Additions and revisions are highlighted in yellow throughout the PDF version of the guidelines.

To view or download the guidelines, go to the Pediatric ARV Guidelines section of AIDSinfo’s website. The guideline tables and recommendations can also be downloaded as separate PDF files.

AIDSinfo Welcomes Your Feedback

Feedback on the latest revisions to the Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in Pediatric HIV Infection is welcome. Please send your comments with the subject line "Comments on the Pediatric ARV Guidelines" to ContactUs@aidsinfo.nih.gov by September 26, 2019.