The combination of the HIV treatments, tenofovir, FTC, and efavirenz might soon be available in a single pill, reports Medscape.

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Researchers randomly assigned 517 HIV-positive patients to receive either a standard combination antiretroviral regimen (AZT, 3TC, and efavirenz) or a newer regimen (tenofovir, FTC, and efavirenz). Both regimens involved taking three pills daily, according to Medscape.

Significant improvements observed
After 48 weeks of treatment, 73% of the AZT group and 84% of the tenofovir group had undetectable viral loads and mean CD4 counts had increased by 158 and 190, respectively. Both of these differences were significant.

Treatment-limiting side effects, most often anaemia, were significantly more common in the AZT group than in the tenofovir group, Medscape reported.

The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The findings apply only to a subset of patients (in this case, those who are treatment-naive and able to tolerate the sometimes-incapacitating side effects of efavirenz). With these caveats, though, the findings do herald a new era in HIV treatment. A combination tenofovir/FTC pill now enables patients to take the tenofovir regimen evaluated here in only two pills daily. Furthermore, the manufacturers of that pill and the manufacturer of efavirenz have announced their intention to jointly sponsor the development and marketing of a single new pill that will combine all three drugs, the first-ever once-daily treatment for HIV," Abigail Zuger, MD, wrote on Medscape. – (Health24)

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March 2006
 

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