New HIV drugs offer breakthrough therapies

Two new classes of HIV drugs have demonstrated the capacity to double the number of infections they could control in comparison to existing therapies. New data released at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections showed that integrase inhibitors and CCR5 inhibitors offered new hope to the one in five HIV patients resistant to current therapies. Researchers said the data offered the biggest breakthrough for HIV patients in a decade. Pfizer's CCR5 inhibitor--maraviroc--appears closest to approval in the new categories. It is designed to prevent the virus from penetrating T cells by blocking the receptors on the cell surface. This is the first drug that targets the human immune system, instead of the virus. In trials 60.4 percent of volunteers taking maraviroc plus standard therapy demonstrated 400 HIV copies per milliliter of blood compared to 31.4 percent on background therapy. Analysts say that maraviroc may be approved by the FDA by the end of this year.

- read the article from The Los Angeles Times for more

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