CROI 2015: Advances in Antiretroviral Therapy

The 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections included new and exciting advances in the realm of antiretroviral therapy. The Temprano trial demonstrated benefits from early antiretroviral therapy and isoniazid preventive therapy. Important data on investigational antiretroviral drugs were presented, including tenofovir alafenamide fumarate and BMS-955176, an HIV-1 maturation inhibitor. Novel data on the HIV care continuum from resource-rich and -limited settings highlighted persistent sex- and race-related disparities in care engagement, and the crucial need to bring HIV testing and care into the community to improve engagement across the care continuum. Life expectancy data from resource-limited settings reveal dramatic improvements across sub-Saharan Africa, although people with HIV still live 5 years to 10 years less than those without HIV, and new cost-effectiveness research revealed that the price of antiretroviral therapy itself remains a key driver of cost and cost-effectiveness calculations. Results from the PROMISE trial showed reduced rates of mother-to-child transmission among women who received antiretroviral therapy with 3 drugs compared with women who received zidovudine monotherapy, supporting current World Health Organization guidelines.