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Lexiva

Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. Different classes of antiretroviral drugs act at different stages of the HIV life cycle. Combination of several (typically three or four) antiretroviral drugs is known as Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART). more...

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Organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Maryland, USA) recommend offering antiretroviral treatment to all patients with HIV-related symptoms. However, because of the complexity of selecting and following a regimen, the severity of the side effects, and the importance of compliance to prevent viral resistance, such organizations emphasize the importance of involving patients in therapy choices and recommend analyzing the risks and the potential benefits to patients without symptoms.

Combination therapy

The life cycle of HIV can be as short as about 1.5 days: from viral entry into a cell; through replication, assembly, and release of additional viruses; to infection of other cells. HIV lacks proofreading enzymes to correct errors made when it converts its RNA into DNA via reverse transcription. Its short life cycle and high error rate cause the virus to mutate very rapidly, resulting in a high genetic variability of HIV. Most of the mutations either are inferior to the parent virus (often lacking the ability to reproduce at all) or convey no advantage, but some of them have a natural selection superiority to their parent and can enable them to slip past defenses such as the human immune system and antiretroviral drugs. The more active copies of the virus, the greater the possibility that one resistant to antiretroviral drugs will be made, so antiretroviral combination therapy defends against resistance by suppressing HIV replication as much as possible.

Combinations of antiretrovirals create multiple obstacles to HIV replication to keep the number of offspring low and reduce the possibility of a superior mutation. If a mutation arises that conveys resistance to one of the drugs being taken, the other drugs continue to suppress reproduction of that mutation. With rare exceptions, no individual antiretroviral drug has been demonstrated to suppress an HIV infection for long; these agents must be taken in combinations in order to have a lasting effect. As a result the standard of care is to use combinations of antiretroviral drugs.

Combinations of antiretrovirals are subject to positive and negative synergies, which limits the number of useful combinations. For example, ddI and AZT inhibit each other, so taking them together is less effective than taking either one separately. Other issues further limit some people's treatment options from antiretroviral drug combinations, including their complicated dosing schedules and often severe side effects.

Current treatment guidelines

Antiretroviral drug treatment guidelines have changed many times. Early recommendations attempted a "hit hard, hit early" approach. A more conservative approach followed, with a starting point somewhere between 350 and 500 CD4+ T cells/mm³. The current guidelines use new criteria to consider starting HAART, as described below. However, there remain a range of views on this subject and the decision of whether to commence treatment ultimately rests with the patient and their doctor.

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Lexiva: blood levels not lowered when taken simultaneously with Nexium. : An article from: AIDS Treatment News $5.95

Lexiva: blood levels not lowered when taken simultaneously with Nexium
On April 29, 2005 GlaxoSmithKline announced that a drug-interaction trial of Lexiva (fosamprenavir) with Nexium (esomeprazole, a proton-pump inhibitor, ...
FDA Approves Updated Labeling for LEXIVA
- Coadministration with Esomeprazole Does Not Affect Blood Levels of LEXIVA - CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and RTP, N.C., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GlaxoSmithKline ...
FDA Approves Updated Labeling for GSK's LEXIVA
Co-administration With Esomeprazole Does Not Affect Blood Levels of LEXIVA RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GlaxoSmithKline ...
Therapeutic and diagnostic advances in the HAART era
It has been almost 10 years since the approval of the first protease inhibitor, saquinavir (Invirase) in December 1995. Since that time, there have been great advances in treatment monitoring, trea
Vertex/Mitsubishi To Develop Hcv Oral Protease Inhibitor
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX), Cambridge, Mass., and Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation have signed an agreement to develop and commercialize ...
AIDS Treatment News index, 2003
AIDS Treatment News Index, 2003 Abacavir+tenofovir+3TC failure 393 Abbott raises Norvir price five fold 397 Access ...
Multimedia Available: FDA Approves New HIV Protease Inhibitor, Lexiva, the Only Protease Inhibitor to Offer Flexible Dosing With No Food or Water Restrictions
Health/Medical Writers ADVISORY...for TUESDAY (Oct. 21) NOTE TO EDITORS: Multimedia Assets Available With This Story Include Logos, Text News Releases, Video --(BUSINESS WIRE) GlaxoSmithK
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Announces Webcasts of its Presentations at Two Investor Conferences
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will webcast its presentations at the 2006 Merrill Lynch Global ...

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