AIDS 2026 Conference (26th International AIDS Conference) Opens Sunday July 26, 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil With Gilead Sciences and Merck's Investigational Once-Weekly Oral HIV Treatment Regimen Islatravir 2 mg / Lenacapavir 300 mg (ISL/LEN) Phase 3 ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2 Detailed Data Scheduled for the Late-Breaking Session Wednesday July 29; Topline Numbers Released July 21 Showed 0% of Once-Weekly ISL/LEN Participants Had HIV-1 RNA at 50 Copies/mL or Higher at Week 48 in ISLEND-1 Versus 0.3% Remaining on Daily Biktarvy
The 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) opens Sunday July 26, 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and runs through July 31. Gilead Sciences and Merck's Phase 3 ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2 detailed data on the investigational once-weekly oral HIV treatment regimen islatravir 2 mg / lenacapavir 300 mg (ISL/LEN) is scheduled for the late-breaking session on Wednesday July 29. Topline numbers released July 21 showed 0% of once-weekly ISL/LEN participants had HIV-1 RNA at 50 copies/mL or higher at Week 48 in ISLEND-1 (versus 0.3% of participants who remained on daily Biktarvy). In ISLEND-2, 0.3% of participants receiving weekly ISL/LEN had HIV-1 RNA at 50 copies/mL or higher versus 1.3% on daily standard of care regimens. Safety profile was generally similar to comparator regimens with no new signals identified. Lenacapavir is a first-in-class HIV capsid inhibitor (peptide-adjacent modality); islatravir is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor (NRTTI). The data will support planned regulatory submissions and represents the first once-weekly oral HIV treatment regimen to clear Phase 3 endpoints. Merck also plans to present daily, weekly, and monthly HIV treatment and prevention pipeline updates at AIDS 2026.