GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Shionogi are taking the regulatory plunge. The trio’s collaboration, ViiV Healthcare, announced Tuesday that it has filed its investigational integrase inhibitor, dolutegravir,, with American, Canadian and European regulators for review. The experimental therapy for HIV treatment would be for adults and adolescents. Integrase inhibitors interfere with the virus’ ability to be encoded into a cell’s DNA. Approval would be a particular win for GSK, which reshaped the ownership split in October in exchange for a greater stake in dolutegravir. Phase III tests showed the virus was undetectable in 63% of patients, Bloomberg reported last month.
Consumers aren’t just looking up medical information online, but now consider online information and home diagnostic tools an essential part of their healthcare regimen, according to a study by Royal Philips Electronics, which makes personal care and appliances, among other items. The manufacturer said that 11% of the polled consumers said web-based information has helped them stay alive and/or helped them avoid being incapacitated. The study also found that 25% of the 1,003 adults use symptom checkers or home diagnostics as often as they visit their doctor, and that more than one-third of the respondents “believe technology that allows one to monitor his/her own health is now the key to living a long life.” The findings could also shed some additional light on the proliferation of disease-state apps. MobiHealth News, for example, found that there are over 1,000 apps for diabetes and 250 Android apps centered on living with respiratory diseases.
