GenQ - For the not so straight individual

A Spanish team of researchers have developed a drug called Darunvair, a drug designed to treat HIV. Early results of a trial for the drug are promising when the medication is combined with existing treatment.

The trial was conducted with patients whose HIV infection was classed as advanced. Those who took part took Darunvair as their medication, along with a small dose of an existing antiretroviral ritonavir.

Darunvair belongs to a group of drugs which stops HIV replicating by blocking the development of the disease in the protease enzyme.

After 48 weeks of testing, results published by The Lancet indicated that 61% of patients who took part in the trial achieved a 10-fold drop, and 45% of participants who took darunavir-ritonavir had their HIV RNA concentration levels reduced to less than 50 copies per millilitre of blood, which is the lowest possible recordable value.

Calls have been made for new antiretroviral drugs to combat HIV, as existing treatments are now beginning to fail several years into the medication programme.