About the Authors

Hila Haskelberg

hhaskelberg@kirby.unsw.edu.au

Affiliation The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Jennifer F. Hoy

Affiliation Infectious Diseases Unit, The Alfred Hospital, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Janaki Amin

Affiliation The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Peter R. Ebeling

Affiliation North West Academic Centre, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Sean Emery

Affiliation The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Andrew Carr

Affiliation St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Australia

STEAL Study Group

Membership of the Study Group is provided in the Acknowledgments

Competing Interests

Co-author Sean Emery is a PLoS ONE Editorial Board member, Hila Haskelberg declares no conflict of interest. Jennifer Hoy’s institution has received research funding from GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV Healthcare, Gilead Sciences and Merck; travel sponsorship from Gilead Sciences, Janssen-Cilag, and Merck; and has served on advisory boards for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV Healthcare, Janssen-Cilag, Merck and Roche. Janaki Amin declares no conflict of interest. Peter Ebeling’s institution has received research funding from Merck; consultancy fees from Gilead Sciences and GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV Healthcare; and he has served on an advisory board for Merck. Sean Emery has either served on advisory boards; received travel grants, consultancy payments or honoraria from Abbott, BMS, Merck, Gilead, GSK, Tibotec, Viiv Healthcare, and Pfizer. Andrew Carr has received research funding from GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV Healthcare, and Merck; consultancy fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV Healthcare, Merck and Roche; lecture and travel sponsorships from Abbott, Boehringer- Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV Healthcare, and Merck; and has served on advisory boards for Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV Healthcare, Merck and Roche. This does not alter our adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. Partial funding for the biomarker analysis was provided by GSK/ViiV Healthcare. This does not alter our adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. In the STEAL main study, subjects were randomised to receive either of the following study drugs in combination with the remainder of their existing ART (having ceased the NRTI component): KivexaTM: ABC 600 mg+3 TC 300 mg FDC once daily TruvadaTM: FTC 200 mg+TDF 300 mg FDC once daily There are no other relevant declarations relating to employment, consultancy, patents, products in development or marketed products.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: HH JH PE SE AC. Performed the experiments: SE PE. Analyzed the data: HH JA. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: PE. Wrote the paper: HH JH.