Proviral HIV-1 DNA Drug Resistance Testing: Your Questions Answered

With the development of proviral HIV-1 DNA drug resistance testing, clinicians can now incorporate this novel drug resistance technology to identify antiretroviral drugs that are active against the virus. This technology is needed because improvements in HIV-1 antiretroviral (ARV) drugs have led to therapeutic advances resulting in more patients with complete and sustained suppression of virus replication. In this setting of sustained viral suppression, HIV-1 proviral DNA drug resistance testing can be a useful tool to guide treatment adjustments or regimen switches that may be necessary due to adverse events, regimen intolerance or drug-drug interactions. Regimen modification should be made cautiously because archived drug resistant viruses harbored within latently infected cells have the opportunity to emerge under appropriate selective drug pressure.

Therefore, it is critical to review the full ARV treatment history of patients prior to selecting a new treatment regimen. Information gained from HIV-1 DNA resistance testing, such as the GenoSure Archive assay, may be used in combination with historical plasma RNA resistance test results to guide regimen switching in the setting of viral suppression. This testing may also provide added information regarding archived drug resistance when prior resistance test results are unavailable or incomplete. Although originally intended for those patients who are virologically suppressed, the clinical application of proviral HIV-1 DNA resistance testing may extend to other patient scenarios.

Register for this webinar to hear experts discuss the fundamentals of proviral DNA resistance testing, address common questions and provide insight into its application and usefulness in the clinical setting.

Speakers

Charles Walworth, MD - Associate VP, Medical Affairs and Education, Labcorp/Monogram Biosciences

Dr. Walworth completed his undergraduate work and medical school at Georgetown University. His interest in working in the field of HIV was triggered while working in a refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodian border, during which time the first five cases of AIDS were reported at Bangkok General Hospital. He subsequently completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health and served as the Clinical Trials Physician in the NIAID Clinical Trials Unit. He later entered private practice in Orange County, CA where he built a very large HIV practice, conducted numerous clinical trials, served on speakers’ bureaus and advisory boards for multiple pharmaceutical companies, and worked closely with AIDS service organizations. In 2008, he joined Monogram Biosciences in South San Francisco, CA, initially as Director of Global Medical Affairs. He is now the Associate Vice President of Medical Affairs and Education at Monogram Biosciences/Labcorp.

Message Presenter

Dusica Curanovic, PhD - Medical Science Liaison, Labcorp/Monogram Biosciences

Dr. Curanovic is a trained virologist with a PhD in Molecular Biology from Princeton University. She conducted academic research at Weill Cornell Medical College and UNC Chapel Hill, has published primary research and book chapters, and has lectured on a variety of topics in virology. Prior to joining Monogram, Dr. Curanovic reported clinical trial outcomes, and planned and executed data dissemination strategies for HIV therapeutics. At Monogram, she has been spearheading the efforts in biomarker development for HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder, and other HIV-associated neurologic testing. She is the Medical Science Liaison for the Southeast Region.

Message Presenter

Milka Rodriguez, PhD - Medical Science Liaison, Labcorp/Monogram Biosciences

Dr. Rodriguez earned her PhD in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology from University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Weill Cornell Medical College and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Prior to joining Labcorp in 2015, Dr. Rodriguez was Assistant Director of Epigenetic Services at Epigentek Group, Inc. At Labcorp, she works closely with the Medical Affairs team on various research and development projects to bring innovative diagnostic tools for HIV disease management to market. Dr. Rodriguez is the Medical Science Liaison for the Northeast Region.

Message Presenter