HIV Digest	HIV Digest Archive

Data presented at the 2nd International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment, held in Paris, demonstrated that a treatment regimen combining the new drug Reyataz, boosted with low-dose ritonavir, provided antiviral effect comparable to a standard-of- care protease inhibitor regimen containing the ritonavir-boosted PI lopinavir (Kaletra) in highly treatment-experienced HIV patients after 24 weeks of treatment. Reyataz is the first once-daily PI approved by FDA.

"More and more physicians are prescribing multiple protease inhibitor-containing regimens in treatment-experienced patients and this early evidence that Reyataz, when boosted with ritonavir, is comparable to Kaletra is very encouraging," said Bonaventura Clotet, PhD.

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The 24-week interim analysis of the 48-week study examined 358 randomized patients who had failed two or more HAART regimens, including at least one agent from each class of oral HAART. Results through week 24 showed the ritonavir-boosted Reyataz regimen had comparable antiviral activity to the regimen containing Kaletra. The dual-PI combination of Reyataz and saquinavir showed less antiviral activity than the other two regimens at the interim analysis.

Data suggest regimens containing Reyataz, compared to the Kaletra regimen, show more favorable lipid changes as assessed by mean percent changes from baseline in total cholesterol, fasting LDL cholesterol, and fasting serum triglyceride concentrations. The mean percent change from baseline in HDL cholesterol decreased slightly in the Reyataz regimens and did not change in the Kaletra regimen.

Editor's Note: from AIDS Weekly