HIV Testing Blog

Merck announced on Thursday that the FDA has approved expanded use of its HIV drug, Isentress, Reuters. Isentress has been FDA-approved since 2007, but was limited “to use in patients who had drug-resistant strains or were failing on other therapies, also in combination with other HIV drugs. Now it can be used in all adult patients,” the AP/CNBC.com reports. According to AP/CNBC.com, “Isentress is an integrase inhibitor, meaning it works by blocking the enzyme integrase, one of three types of enzymes the AIDS virus uses to reproduce and infect cells”

For the full article, please refer to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157219.php

With the new data, scientists may have new leads for innovative treatments for AIDS-HIV.

The American and Canadian researchers with Oregon State University’s Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute (VGTI) of Florida and the University of Montreal, have found what they believe is a more effective treatment and potentially even cure for AIDS-HIV, based on the discovery of the virus’ hiding places.

According to study co-leader Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sekaly, “You have to target not the virus, but the cells in which the virus is hiding. And that I think it is a very different concept than what everybody has been pushing for. That clearly is a major finding that we have got to the table.” He added, “This would make it possible to destroy cells containing a virus while giving the immune system time to regenerate with healthy cells.”

Dr. Sekaly says, he is “very optimistic” that researchers will be able to develop new drugs to target the hiding spots identified with their new research.

For the complete article, please refer to http://www.healthnews.com/medical-updates/no-more-hiding-virus-causing-aids-hiv-3343.html.

For the press release, please refer to http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090621143312.htm.