A Novel Antiretroviral Agent May Expand HIV Treatment Options

In patients with multidrug resistant HIV, raltegravir was more effective than placebo when added to optimized combination therapy.

For the last decade, most effective antiretroviral therapy for HIV has been based on combinations of drugs selected from three classes of antiretroviral agents. For many treatment-experienced patients, many drugs in these classes are either intolerable or have become ineffective because of viral resistance. New classes of antiretroviral drugs with novel mechanisms and resistance patterns may expand treatment options.

This manufacturer-sponsored, multicenter trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of raltegravir — the first drug in a new treatment class known as HIV integrase inhibitors — in 178 treatment-experienced patients with HIV resistance to at least one drug in each of the three major antiretroviral classes. Investigators designed an …

Reviewing Author

Bruce Soloway, MD