Gilead, Merck to team up on potential HIV combo treatment The two major pharmaceutical firms have agreed to jointly develop and commercialize treatment combinations of lenacapavir and islatravir in HIV patients. Gilead Sciences and Merck have entered into an agreement to co-develop and co-commercialize long-acting treatments in HIV. The intended solutions will combine Gilead’s investigational capsid inhibitor, lenacapavir, and Merck’s investigational nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor, islatravir, into a two-drug regimen with the potential to provide new, meaningful treatment options for people with HIV. Islatravir and lenacapavir are potentially first-in-class medicines in late-stage clinical trials, with significant clinical data generated for both to date. Each of the medicines reportedly has a long half-life and has demonstrated activity at low dosages in clinical studies, which support development as an investigational combination regimen with long-acting formulations, both oral and injectable.