Weekly Rundown: Once-weekly HIV pill clears Phase 3 trials ​Microbubble-based genetic medicines, pharma deals, trial misses, and more led the news this week. Written byDDN editorial team

https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/weekly-rundown-once-weekly-hiv-pill-clears-phase-3-trials-17254 Gilead Sciences and Merck announced this week that their investigational once-weekly single-tablet HIV regimen, islatravir/lenacapavir, met its primary efficacy endpoint at week 48 in both the ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2 Phase 3 trials. The combination pairs Merck's islatravir, a next-generation nucleoside analog that blocks HIV replication through multiple mechanisms including reverse transcriptase translocation inhibition, with Gilead's lenacapavir, a first-in-class capsid inhibitor that disrupts HIV at multiple stages of its lifecycle. In ISLEND-1, the once-weekly tablet was non-inferior to Biktarvy, Gilead's current daily standard-of-care regimen, in virologically suppressed patients. In ISLEND-2, it was non-inferior to a broad range of daily antiretroviral regimens. Safety was comparable across arms with no new concerns identified. Both companies plan to file the Phase 3 data with regulatory authorities globally. If approved, islatravir/lenacapavir would become the first long-acting oral HIV treatment taken once weekly, a meaningful shift in a field where daily dosing has long been the norm and where adherence remains one of the most persistent barriers to sustained viral suppression. – Andrea Corona