What makes ViiV Healthcare unique is our sole focus on HIV. By combining breakthrough science with a deep understanding of the people and communities we serve, we have the opportunity to redefine the future of HIV treatment, prevention and cure research, helping to ensure no person living with HIV is left behind.
HIV
We’re innovating to deliver more choice in prevention and treatment that meets the needs of people affected by HIV.
Why innovation in HIV matters
HIV is a virus that targets and destroys the white blood cells that are crucial for fighting off infections. As these cells decline, the immune system loses its ability to fight infections and disease. If unmanaged, HIV can progress to AIDS.
Scientific advances have transformed HIV into a chronic, manageable condition, and created new options for preventing HIV. But HIV remains one of the world’s biggest health epidemics. More than 40 million people are currently living with HIV, and 1.3 million new diagnoses occur every year, according to the World Health Organization.
Stigma and misinformation around HIV persist. Many people face real barriers to accessing prevention, diagnosis, and care, including the practical challenges of taking daily medication. These factors underline the need for solutions that not only help prevent and treat HIV effectively, but also improve access, simplicity and choice of care.
Also, the biology of HIV makes continued innovation essential. HIV can establish reservoirs where it hides in the body. Even when treatments are working, the virus can stay hidden in certain cells and remain inactive. This makes it hard to eliminate HIV because the virus can come back later. HIV also changes, or mutates, which can sometimes lead to HIV becoming resistant to medications. These are the scientific challenges to overcome, particularly in developing longer-acting prevention, treatment and ultimately a cure.
HIV: our R&D approach
GSK has pioneered innovation in infectious diseases for over 70 years and our research continues today, using our deep understanding of how the immune system responds to the threat of infection to pursue prevention and treatment options.
Having developed medicines that transformed the lives of people living with HIV, or those who could benefit from preventative medication, we’re focused on developing the next generation of HIV innovations that would allow people to take fewer medicines or take them much less often.
Our history in HIV innovation and our focus today
Our innovation in HIV dates back to the 1980s, when scientists at one of GSK’s legacy companies played a key role in advancing early HIV treatment.
Four decades later, we continue to work to find new ways to treat and prevent HIV through ViiV Healthcare, a global specialist HIV company majority owned by GSK, with Shionogi as shareholders.
ViiV Healthcare resulted from a partnership between GSK and Pfizer in 2009, with Shionogi joining in 2012 following a long-term collaboration with GSK on the joint development of several novel integrase inhibitors – a type of antiretroviral therapy that helps halt HIV replication.
Now, ViiV Healthcare is the only company 100% dedicated to preventing, treating and curing HIV, with a mission to leave no person living with HIV behind and an ambition to end the HIV and AIDS epidemics.
Our portfolio and pipeline reflect a commitment to understanding the HIV community. We listen, learn, and use real-world evidence to create options that give people more choice and help support better uptake and outcomes in everyday care.
Taking daily medication can be challenging for people living with HIV, or who could benefit from HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). People may be worried about others finding out they are taking the medication, or their individual circumstances may mean it’s difficult or inconvenient to take a medicine every day.
Given these challenges, our R&D in HIV is focused on the development of longer-acting options. The next phase of our research aims to explore longer intervals between doses and options for people to treat at home rather than in a hospital or clinic.
Building on integrase inhibitor science
The foundation of our portfolio is integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs). These medicines work by blocking integrase, an enzyme the virus needs to insert its genetic material into the DNA of a host cell. Without this step, HIV cannot replicate. INSTI-based medicines are now at the heart of modern HIV care.
Our pipeline reflects our “INSTI at the core” approach. As part of our development work, we’re exploring a range of next-generation INSTIs. We’re also exploring other compounds that could potentially be combined with INSTIs to help extend dosing intervals, including:
Broadly neutralising antibodies (bNAbs) – antibodies that can recognise and block different strains of the HIV virus, as well as potentially enhance the immune system.
Capsid inhibitors – agents that can inhibit the protein shell protecting the virus's genetic material during replication.
Towards a cure for HIV
Finding a cure for HIV is challenging, as the virus adapts easily and rapidly and can hide in host cells, evading detection by the immune system. Our approach – known as “induce and reduce” – aims to free people from their treatment regimen by drawing dormant HIV out of hiding so we can seek to eliminate it.
Power of partnerships
Alongside our R&D, we’re committed to partnerships that drive impact at scale. Key to this is increasing access to medicines and reaching those most impacted by HIV. We do this through our pricing approach, sharing intellectual property and cross-sector collaboration.
