Integrase Regimen Switch to Symtuza to Increase Tolerability/Adherence (SYMita)

With the advent of anti-retroviral therapy, HIV transformed into a manageable chronic disease for patients who were able to obtain medications, provided they could remain adherent to them. When single tablet regimens (STR) became available, adherence to HIV medications was made easier for many patients. However even years after STR became available, 38% of patients reported they do not maintain optimal adherence to their HIV medications. While there are many factors that contribute to this problem, medication intolerance contributes to suboptimal adherence for many patients

Darunavir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (Symtuza) is a coformulated STR, is the only protease inhibitor based STR, and is noted for its high tolerability. This trait has the potential to improve adherence in patients who have intolerance to the integrase inhibitor class. We are not aware of any studies that have examined this potential and find that information gap worth investigating.

We propose a two part study design to evaluate if patients who have suboptimal adherence due to integrase inhibitor intolerance may have better tolerability to Symtuza and subsequently have improved adherence.

The initial portion of the study will consist of a self-administered adherence survey offered over a 4 month period to established patients at Midland Medical Center who are HIV+, regardless of disease state or regimen. Subjects who self-identify as non-adherent due to tolerability issues will be screened for enrollment in the primary study. Subjects found to be non-adherent due to other issues will be referred back to their provider.

Subjects who are referred for screening who are on an integrase inhibitor and who do not have a contraindication will be enrolled, will complete a Patient Reported Outcome survey (PRO) to assess side effects/quality of life, and switched to Symtuza. Subjects who are not enrolled in the study will be referred back to their provider to address the issues with tolerance and adherence.

Subjects will be followed for 4 months. During that period, they will be brought back for evaluation at the end of the first month and the end of the fourth month. At those evaluations, they will again complete the PRO and adherence surveys to assess tolerability and adherence. At the evaluations, they will also be monitored for safety and effectiveness via physical exams and laboratory studies (Complete Blood Count, Complete Metabolic Panel, Urinalysis, CD4 panel, HIV1 Quantitative viral load).

The de-identified laboratory and survey results from the baseline and subsequent assessments will be turned over to a statistician to evaluate changes in adherence, tolerability, effectiveness, and safety.