Second generation InSTI’s for the treatment of HIV in patients with TB
CAPRISA Scientist Dr Anushka Naidoo has been awarded a $1.75 million grant over five years through the U.S.-South Africa Program for Collaborative Biomedical Research, funded by the National Institute for Health and the South African Medical Research Council.
The collaborative team of investigators include Dr Anushka Naidoo (PI), Prof Kelly Dooley (Co-PI) from John Hopkins University (US), Prof Kogieleum Naidoo from CAPRISA (Co-I), and Dr Moherndran Archary from UKZN (Co-I).
The project will investigate the use of second generation integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs), dolutegravir and bictegravir, for the treatment of HIV in patients with tuberculosis on rifampicin-based TB treatment in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa. INSTI’s are highly potent antiretroviral drugs, recommended by WHO as first-line treatment of HIV.
The proposed study is timely and relevant, explained Naidoo. “It will generate knowledge needed to support evidence-based use of INSTI’s in adults and younger children with HIV-associated TB, in high burden settings. This is the first time Bictegravir will be evaluated in Africa and will provide an alternate INSTI option in this setting.”
Photo: L-R: Dr Anushka Naidoo, Prof Kelly Dooley and Prof Kogie Naidoo