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Pfizer's Maraviroc could block HIV virus from entering cells |
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Written by Theresa Maher
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Wednesday, 28 February 2007 |
A new drug developed by Pfizer could be the answer when all other treatments have failed in suppressing HIV virus, according to a new study.
One of the drugs currently being developed for extreme cases of AIDS, Maraviroc is able to block the entry of the HIV virus into the immune system cells. Pfizer said that the drug has been found to achieve twice the levels of suppression of the virus than in those patients who did not take the drug.
Pfizer added that the drug achieves this suppression by blocking the receptors which are found on the surface of the T cells and which act as a sort of doorway to the cell. Maraviroc and other similar drugs have been grouped into a separate class of drugs known as CCR5 inhibitors, as the receptors are made up of CCR5 protein.
The study was reported at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Los Angeles after observing 1,000 patients over a period of 24 weeks. Chris Petropoulos, chief scientific officer at Monogram Biosciences, believes that over 80 percent of HIV patients who were infected recently come under the CCR5-tropic virus group.
Michael Carter, an HIV expert from the UK's National Aids Manual (Aidsmap), hailed the study saying that Maraviroc was the first drug of its kind to reach such an advanced stage of research.
"HIV therapies have, for so long, focused on people needing drugs for their initial treatment. But there is a huge and growing number of people who've failed on first and second-line therapies, who need other drugs later on", he added.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 28 February 2007 )
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