{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T18:42:30Z","timestamp":1783536150202,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783468800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Research Committee of HOCH Health Ostschweiz","award":["18\/24"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["18\/24"]}]},{"name":"Research Committee of HOCH Health Ostschweiz","award":["18\/24"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["18\/24"]}]},{"name":"Research Committee of HOCH Health Ostschweiz","award":["18\/24"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["18\/24"]}]},{"name":"Research Committee of HOCH Health Ostschweiz","award":["18\/24"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["18\/24"]}]},{"name":"Research Committee of HOCH Health Ostschweiz","award":["18\/24"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["18\/24"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Reducing the number of drugs in combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) likely reduces toxicity. We hypothesized that dual therapy (DT) with nevirapine (NVP) and lamivudine (3TC) would be non-inferior to a virtual control without treatment failure.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This multicenter study enrolled patients on cART with HIV plasma viral load (pVL) &lt;50 cp\/ml for \u22652 years and on NVP for \u22656 months. Patients were compared to a simulated virtual control group with an assumed failure rate of zero. Those with prior Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor failure or 3TC resistance were excluded. Treatment was simplified to DT with NVP\/3TC for 48 weeks, with quarterly pVL-measurements. The primary endpoint was confirmed virologic failure (pVL\u2009\u2265\u2009200 cp\/mL). A 4% non-inferiority margin and sample size of 201 were set, with a stopping rule if three virologic failures occurred.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>From April 2019 to January 2023, 201 patients from five centers in Switzerland and Germany started DT, which 194 participants completed. Two patients (1.03%, 95% CI: \u20130.92% to 3.68%) reached the primary endpoint for failure due to adherence issues. No additional failures were observed during a 12-month post-study follow-up of 184 participants.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Simplification to NVP and 3TC was as effective as the ideal virtual control. However, the results of NVP and 3TC maintenance therapy are only applicable to people living with HIV who meet the study\u2019s inclusion and exclusion criteria. Virtual controls could improve research efficiency and warrant further evaluation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0351576","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T17:21:53Z","timestamp":1783531313000},"page":"e0351576","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A novel design using a virtual control group to evaluate non-inferiority of nevirapine and lamivudine dual maintenance in HIV 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