New drug against AIDS considered
New drug against AIDS considered
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand, which may be home to as many as 800,000 people infected with HIV, is considering approval of a drug with a powerful record against the virus, a government AIDS expert said yesterday.
"Abbot has studied this drug for years and the U.S. FDA approved it this year," said Chaiyos Kunanusont, a medical expert with the Public Health Ministry's AIDS Division, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ritonavir, a protease inhibitor for the Human Immune- deficiency Virus (HIV), is currently under consideration by the Thai FDA, the Bangkok office of the manufacturer, U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories said in a statement.
Protease inhibitors work differently and more effectively than current treatments, blocking the development and reproduction of the virus which leads to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) rather than letting it reach maturity in the bloodstream, it said.