CROI 2015: HIV news from Seattle

20 February 2015. Related: News.

Simon Collins, HIV i-Base

The 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) is being held from 23-26 February in Seattle, Washington.

i-Base will post short news summaries to this page, and include links to longer reports as ahead-of-press articles for the new issue of HIV Treatment Bulletin (HTB).

CROI is the most important scientific medical conference and the programme and abstract book are both now available as PDF files.

CROI 2015 programme at a glance (PDF)

CROI 2015 abstract book  (PDF)

This year, the conference opened with important news about oral PrEP (including the PROUD and IPERGAY studies), gel PrEP and other HIV prevention options, including research to reduce mother to child transmission. Other key sessions included HIV-related complications, treatment for children, studies of new drugs in the pipeline and HIV pathogenesis – especially in the context of cure research.

Abstracts for each study are available in a searchable online database and some posters are available to download.

CROI 2015 – search abstracts and download electronic posters

Webcasts of all plenary lectures and oral research presentations are usually available the following day as webcasts.

http://www.croiwebcasts.org

Links below are to reports from the conference.

CROI 2015: PMTCT, women’s health and paediatric care

• Unintended pregnancies with levonorgestrel implant due to drug interactions with efavirenz-based ART
• Three drug ART best for preventing vertical transmission to infants
• 3 in 5 breastfeeding women with viral load >1,000 copies/mL are undiagnosed in Kenya, Malawi and South Africa
• Point of care HIV PCR test for infant diagnosis: good performance but poorer results in youngest age group
• Weekend-off ART is non-inferior to continuous ART in young people taking efavirenz-based regimens: results from BREATHER study
• Lopinavir/ritonavir superior to nevirapine in children <3 years old: IMPAACT P1060 five year results
• Increased cardiovascular risks in HIV positive children in Uganda and Zambia partially reversed by ART
• Long-term safety and efficacy of tenofovir in children

CROI 2015: PrEP, TasP and HIV PREVENTION

• Other HIV PrEP studies at CROI 2015: implementation of oral PrEP and problems with tenofovir gel
• No HIV transmissions between gay couples when VL is undetectable: preliminary results from “Opposites Attract” study in Australia, Thailand and Brazil
• PrEP reduced HIV risk by at least 86% in PROUD: no transmissions likely from people taking meds
• “On demand” PrEP dosing in IPERGAY: 86% reduced risk of HIV, no transmissions with active drug use

CROI 2015: ARVs, TREATMENT STRATEGIES, CURE RESEARCH

• Pipeline ART: tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)
• Pipeline ART: HIV maturation inhibitors and attachment inhibitors
• Undetectable viral load sustained for ten years off-ART in UK patient with prior history of HIV progression
• Early HIV treatment and isoniazid prophylaxis: why TEMPRANO results do not yet support universal ART at CD4 >500 cells/mm³

CROI 2015: DRUG RESISTANCE, OTHER NEWS & MEETINGS

• CROI webcasts online
• Pre-conference meetings and workshops
  Advocates from i-Base are also involved in other pre-conference workshops.
  Two important two-day workshops are being held immediately prior to CROI on 21-22 February.  One is the XXIV International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop and another is the 5th International Workshop on HIV & Women.
  Short reports are also included for the INSIGHT Community Advisory Board and investigator meeting, two WHO meetings on treatment optimisation and access to HCV drugs, a community meeting on cure research and an HIV meeting on long acting HIV drugs (monthly `and longer injections).
• Introduction to the Drug Resistance Workshop
• Prevalence of transmitted drug resistance globally
• K65R and tenofovir in non-B subtypes and resource limited settings