Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press; Sunday, December 1, 1991
The company had rushed L 661 into clinical trials less than a year ago.
The drug ran into the same problem that limits the effectiveness of the leading AIDS drug AZT to less than two years: The AIDS virus mutates and becomes resistant to the treatment, The Wall Street Journal reported in today's edition.
Research by Merck scientists also indicates that patients who became resistant to L 661 will be likely be resistant to similar compounds, including Boehringer Ingelheim International's BIRG 586 and Johnson & Johnson's TIBO treatment.
A Merck spokesman said problems with resistance might be overcome if the drug is used in combination with AZT, manufactured by Wellcome PLC.
Jerome Groopman, a researcher at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, said the lesson in this case is that the drugs need to be targeted at the specific sites on the HIV virus that are not likely to mutate.
Many researchers believe the best way to fight the fatal disease may be a combination of AZT and its sister compounds DDI and DDC, but most agree there is no imminent cure.
When a new drug fails, a Merck spokesman said, "there's a sense of hopelessness, but it doesn't last long."
Copyright 1991/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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Copyright © 1991 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
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