Drug suppresses HIV

An ongoing study of 58 protease inhibitor-experienced patients suggests ABT/378/r, an advanced-generation protease inhibitor from Abbott Laboratories in Abbott Park, IL, suppresses HIV levels in 84% of patients after 48 weeks of treatment. Other findings include:

• Sixty-four percent of patients had at least a fourfold loss in susceptibility to previous protease inhibitors.

• Of 11 patients with greater than a fourfold reduced viral susceptibility to ABT-378/r at baseline, seven had a viral load of less than 400 copies/ mL at week 48 and one had a viral load less than 400 copies/mL at last visit.

"These early data suggest that ABT-378/r may have activity against drug-resistant virus," notes Steven Deeks, MD, assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and an investigator in the study.

For more details, see www.abbott.com.