One new tablet combines four drugs,
making daily therapy easier for sufferers
www.corriere.it – 29 June 2012
Aids, therapy with a "superpill" is possible
A “super pill” able to replace four traditional anti-aids drugs, combining them into a single solution. “Quad”, as it was called, has reached the conclusion of its third phase of experimentationand, the one that establishes its effectiveness and safety of assumption. The results of the study, coordinated by Dr. Edwin DeJesus have been published in the trade magazine The Lancet.
The research reveals the first positive results on the administration of new drug on patients at their first treatment for the treatment ofHiv. Already last May the Food and Drug Administration Americana, a lens responsible for giving the go-ahead for the marketing of medicines, he had expressed opinion favorable on the approval of the drug, awaiting the final decision next August, when it will decide whether to market the pill in question is possible.
Quad is essentially based on four active ingredients: elvitegravir, an integrase inhibitor (a key enzyme in the life cycle ofHiv which catalyzes its integration into the DNA of those who contract the virus, Editor's note), two anti-retrovirals such asemtricitabine and the tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, and the cobicistat, potentiator capable of increasing the effectiveness of other drugs. A definitive approval of this drug would lead to a significant decrease in the discomfort of patients, now forced to take more drugs.
Returning to the experimentation, during the first phase 700 North American volunteers were enrolled, divided into two specific groups. To those of the first
