Venter WDF, et al. - Researchers sought to assess the use of two drugs, dolutegravir (DTG) and tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF), for HIV infection in low- and middle-income countries via performing a 96-week, phase 3, investigator-led, open-label, randomized trial in South Africa. They compared a triple-therapy combination of emtricitabine (FTC) and DTG plus either of two tenofovir prodrugs — TAF (TAF-based group) or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) (TDF-based group) — against the local standard-of-care regimen of TDF–FTC–efavirenz (standard-care group). Randomization of a total of 1,053 patients (mean age: 32 years; the mean CD4 count: 337 cells per cubic millimeter) was done. Relative to treatment with the standard-care regimen, no inferior efficacy was noted with treatment with DTG combined with either of two tenofovir prodrugs (TAF and TDF). The DTG-containing regimens, especially in combination with TAF, led to a significantly higher weight gain when compared with the standard-care regimen.