GSK joint venture behind HIV drugs that cured baby

The baby in the news for being cured of AIDS was given two drugs sold by ViiV Healthcare and Abbott Laboratories.

ViiV Healthcare is a joint venture formed by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer in 2009 to focus only on HIV medicines. ViiV Healthcare's U.S. headquarters is in Research Triangle Park.

Doctors announced Sunday that the 2 1/2 year child was given a regimen of AIDS drugs 30 hours after she was born. The treatment was a combined dosage of lamivudine and zidovudine, sold by ViiV, and Kaletra, which is sold by Abbott.

About 3.4 million children are living with HIV worldwide.

ViiV was launched in November 2009, to invest in research and development of innovative HIV treatments. One of the company's initiatives is focused on the prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child.

Last week, ViiV announced it would license pediatric versions of one of its drugs, abacavir, to a group backed by the United Nations. The agreement will increase access to the drug in 118 countries where 99 percent of the chldren with HIV live.

In 2012, the Japanese company Shionogi became an investor, taking a 10 percent stake in the company. GSK remains the largest stakeholder with 76.5 percent of the company; Pfizer owns 13.5 percent, according to Bloomberg News.

The FDA recently gave one of ViiV's potential treatments, dolutegravir, priority status — a designation that fast tracks drugs that have the potential to offer significant improvement in treatment compared to products already on the market.