Initiation of rilpivirine, tenofovir and emtricitabine (RPV/TDF/FTC) regimen in 363 patients with virological vigilance assessment in 'real life'.

OBJECTIVES: To study the single-tablet regimen (STR) combination rilpivirine/tenofovir/emtricitabine (RPV/TDF/FTC) as soon as it became available. We describe a 14 month follow-up in a real clinical setting with a focus on resistance to RPV/TDF/FTC and polymorphisms associated with these drugs. METHODS: We estimated drug resistance at STR baseline by combining all available resistance tests, resulting in a cumulative virtual genotype. Physicians were advised of current or archived resistance mutations for the three drugs. Virological response was analysed according to resistance genotype at baseline. RESULTS: Three hundred and sixty-three patients received RPV/TDF/FTC; 79% had received previous treatment and RPV/TDF/FTC was the result of a switch of one drug to rilpivirine in two-thirds of cases. The cumulative genotype showed 4% of rilpivirine resistance mutations at baseline and 16% of polymorphisms concerning non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). With a median duration of STR of 8 months, 78% of patients with these polymorphisms were virologically suppressed compared with 96% with wild-type genotypes. Five genotypes were determined during the follow-up, revealing three rilpivirine resistance-associated mutations: E138Q/Y181I, M230L and K101P (potentially with a K101Q intermediate). CONCLUSIONS: This observational study reflects routine clinical practice and the relevance of virological advice. It also confirms the efficacy of this STR (RPV/TDF/FTC) for naive and virologically suppressed pretreated patients with a low prevalence of virological failure and resistance if the cumulative baseline genotype is free of resistance to NNRTIs and/or polymorphisms associated with NNRTIs.

Data Fusion to Convert Drug Consumption Quantities into Defined Daily Doses.

Analysis of consumptions has proved a misuse of antibiotics, despite the existence of national requirements. To be able to compute drugs consumption quantities of highly heterogeneous drugs expressed in various doses units, the World Health Organization has defined a defined daily dose. A methodology has been also defined from previous work to compute manually the drugs consumptions in daily defined dose. We automated this methodology by using data fusion on data retrieved from different sources including a French public database and the World Health Organization website. Evaluation proved the efficiency of the approach, except for inconsistency cases. We identified these cases and proposed a solution to avoid them.