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New HIV drug shows promise18 April 2007
A new HIV drug called raltegravir has shown promising results in HIV patients who don't respond to other drugs, according to a study published in The Lancet. Raltegravir belongs to a new class of HIV drugs called integrase-inhibitors, which stop the virus from multiplying. Patients who were given the drug showed a dramatic drop in the amount of virus in their blood (viral load) and an improved immune system. The study included 178 adult patients with HIV infection who were no longer responding to standard HIV drugs. All patients received their usual HIV drugs plus either raltegravir at three different doses or a dummy drug (placebo). After 24 weeks of treatment, 60 percent of those taking raltegravir had a viral load below 50 copies of HIV per millilitre of blood, compared with 13 percent of the patients in the placebo group. The results showed that patients who had taken raltegravir had a better immune response, as indicated by the CD4 white blood cell count. Most patients taking the drug had very few or no side-effects. Virologists Dr Pedro Cahn and Dr Omar Sued, of the Fundacion Huesped, Buenos Aires, Argentina commented in The Lancet "clearly, we are in a new era of anti-retroviral therapy". They predict raltegravir will have a major role in helping patients who don't respond to standard HIV drugs. Related linksBack to the latest health news
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