Albuvirtide is a peptide which is eliminated by catabolism to its constituent amino acids. Coadministration of albuvirtide (320 mg once weekly intravenous) and oral lopinavir/ritonavir (400/100 mg twice daily) was evaluated in HIV-infected individuals. Albuvirtide exposure was not significantly affected by lopinavir/ritonavir. However, both lopinavir and ritonavir concentrations were lower in presence of albuvirtide compared with lopinavir/ritonavir alone (lopinavir AUC, Cmax and Ctrough decreased by 37%, 33% and 35%, respectively; ritonavir AUC, Cmax and Ctrough decreased by 38%, 39% and 28%, respectively). The mean lopinavir Ctrough in presence of albuvirtide (7.1 µg/ml) remained higher than the minimal lopinavir Ctrough previously associated with efficacy. Furthermore, a randomized, phase 3 study (TALENT study) showed that albuvirtide + lopinavir/ritonavir was non-inferior to the standard second-line regimen lopinavir/ritonavir + zidovudine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate + lamivudine in HIV infected Chinese individuals suggesting that this interaction has no clinical consequences. In vitro human microsomal studies indicate that albuvirtide has no inducing properties on P450 enzymes. In addition, albuvirtide binds to <1% of serum albumin in the range of clinical concentrations, thus the observed decrease in lopinavir and ritonavir concentrations is unlikely to result from protein binding displacement. However, binding of the albuvirtide-albumin complex to the HIV protease inhibitor cannot be excluded.