Skip to content

Europe-Africa Research Network for Evaluation of Second-line Therapy

A Randomised Controlled Trial to Evaluate Options for Second-line Therapy in Patients Failing a First-line 2NRTI + NNRTI Regimen in Africa

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00988039
Acronym
EARNEST
Enrollment
1277
Registered
2009-10-01
Start date
2010-03-31
Completion date
2014-01-31
Last updated
2014-04-04

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Keywords

Human Immunodeficiency virus, second line therapy, raltegravir, aluvia, monotherapy, integrase inhibitor, protease inhibitor, Randomized Controlled Trial

Brief summary

The trial aim is to ascertain what, if anything, needs to be combined with a boosted protease inhibitor (bPI) backbone in second-line therapy in order to maximize the chance of a good clinical outcome following WHO-defined failure on a first-line nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) and NNRTI-containing regimen with probable extensive NRTI and NNRTI resistance mutations.

Detailed description

The standard of care for second-line HIV therapy in patients who have failed a first-line NNRTI-based regimen is to combine a boosted protease inhibitor (bPI) with two (new) NRTIs. However, patients failing first-line therapy in roll-out programmes often have extensive NRTI resistance mutations that may compromise the efficacy of the NRTI drugs used in second-line therapy and it is likely that the virological potency of the second-line regimen is mostly due to the bPI. It is possible that the contribution of the NRTI drugs to efficacy may be outweighed by additional toxicity and cost. It is also possible that replacing the NRTI drugs with a new class of drug (integrase inhibitors) will improve outcome from second-line therapy, although if the boosted protease inhibitor alone is providing close to optimal response, incremental gains from adding a new class may be small. The principal aims are to determine whether, in patients failing a first-line NRTI and NNRTI-containing regimen: * The use of bPI plus raltegravir (an integrase inhibitor) is superior to standard of care (bPI plus 2 new NRTIs) in achieving good HIV disease control at 96 weeks after randomisation * The use of bPI monotherapy, preceded by a 12-week induction period in combination with raltegravir, is non-inferior to standard of care in achieving good HIV disease control at 96 weeks after randomisation

Interventions

DRUGAluvia + 2NRTIs

Aluvia (lopinavir/ritonavir 400mg/100mg), twice daily The choice of NRTIs will be at the discretion of the managing clinician and based on the local standard of care and drug availability, taking into account patient's previous drug exposure and side effects on first-line therapy.

DRUGAluvia + raltegravir

Aluvia (lopinavir/ritonavir 400mg/100mg) twice daily raltegravir (400mg) twice daily

DRUGAluvia monotherapy

Aluvia (lopinavir/ritonavir 400mg/100mg) twice daily raltegravir (400mg) twice daily for the first 12 weeks only

Sponsors

European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)
CollaboratorOTHER_GOV
Justine Boles
Lead SponsorOTHER_GOV

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
12 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Previously documented HIV infection on at least one standard antibody-based test * Age 12 years and above * Taking 2NRTI + NNRTI-based regimen continuously for at least 12 months * Naive to protease inhibitor therapy * Good adherence to ART in the 12 weeks prior to screening defined as missing medication on no more than 3 days in the prior month * Clinically stable and receiving treatment for any known opportunistic infections * HIV treatment failure defined by one or more of clinical, immunological or virological criteria defined in the protocol, including VL and CD4 at screening visit * Willing and able to give informed consent * Able to attend for regular study follow up visits

Exclusion criteria

* Any major clinical contra-indications to the use of bPI, the NRTIs that are available to be selected for a second-line regimen or raltegravir * Known Hepatitis B carrier (Hepatitis B surface antigen positive if tested) * Requires concomitant medication with known major interactions with study drugs for which drug substitutions or dose alterations are not available or acceptable * Women who are currently pregnant or breastfeeding * Current participation in another clinical trial involving a treatment intervention (may be permitted in some circumstances, but must be discussed with MRC CTU) * Life expectancy of less than one month in the opinion of the treating physician

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
Good HIV disease control defined as a composite endpoint consisting of all of: - No new WHO stage 4 events - CD4 count >250 cells/mm3 - viral load <10,000 copies/ml or >10,000 copies/ml with no PI resistance mutationsweek 96

Secondary

MeasureTime frame
Proportion with CD4 cell count >250 cells/mm3week 96 and week 144
Proportion with new or recurrent WHO stage 4 eventweek 96 and week 144
Proportion of patients with plasma viral load <50 copiesweek 48, week 96 and week 144
Adverse eventsDuring trial
Good HIV disease controlweek 144
Neurocognitive function change from randomisationduring trial
Healthcare costsDuring trial
Proportion with serious non-AIDS eventsWeek 96 and week 144
Quality of life change from randomisationDuring trial

Countries

Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 10, 2026