British Journal of Pharmacology, October 2019
One form of treatment for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is composed of ombitasvir, paritaprevir/ritonavir- plus dasabuvir (OBV/PTV/r + DSV), and weight-based ribavirin. Study A5334s, a pharmacokinetics sub-study to A5329 (which evaluated this interferon-free HCV treatment among people living with HIV), sought to understand if concentrations of raltegravir changed after this HCV treatment was initiated among people living with HIV and HCV. Compared to raltegravir levels before initiating HCV therapy, raltegravir levels four weeks after co-administration of this HCV combination in people living with HIV and HCV were unexpectedly lower in the majority (73%) of participants, although confidence intervals were wide. These decreases in raltegravir exposures were not suspected to be clinically important, as there were no HIV virologic failures reported in this group. Nonetheless, study A5334s reminds us to study drug-drug interactions carefully in those living with HIV on HCV treatment.