Johnson & Johnson's Edurant (rilpivirine) in combination with partner ViiV Healthcare's experimental integrase inhibitor cabotegravir has been found to suppress HIV as well as current daily oral treatment.

Phase III results from the ATLAS and FLAIR trials demonstrated that the once-monthly combination maintained viral suppression in adults with HIV-1 equally or more efficiently than the current daily oral three-drug regimen.

The trials combined evaluated 1182 men and women living with HIV and the data was presented at the 2019 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle, Washington.

"The Phase III results from these studies show that a two-drug injectable treatment regimen may provide people living with HIV the option of managing their virus with just 12 injection regimens a year. If approved by regulators, this will be the first monthly dosing solution for people living with HIV and represents a major step for HIV treatment," said Brian Woodfall, global head, Development, Infectious Diseases, Janssen Pharmaceutica.

An estimated 101,200 people are living with HIV in the UK. Of those, 69% are men and 31% are women.