FDA Approves New NNRTI
On January 18, 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), etravirine. The accelerated approval of etravirine is based on the results of the DUET-1 and -2 studies, in which participants taking etravirine with an optimized background regimen (OBR) achieved an undetectable viral load and showed a greater increase in CD4 cell count when compared to placebo plus OBR.
Etravirine is intended for use in treatment-experienced adults who have an increasing viral load and are resistant to currently available antiretroviral medications.
More information about etravirine is available:
Treatment Interruption Linked to Increased Risk for Viral Rebound
A recently published study involving 12,977 HIV-infected individuals showed that patients with a detectable viral load who experienced treatment interruption were at an increased risk of viral rebound compared to those with no treatment interruption. Furthermore, patients with an undetectable viral load at the time of treatment interruption did not show evidence of viral rebound.
The results of this study also indicate that even in patients with a currently undetectable viral load, there is a greater chance of viral rebound if a treatment interruption had occurred in the past when viral load was still detectable.
More information on treatment interruption is available:
