AEGiS-AP: Bristol-Myers Drug Said Cuts HIV Rebound: Bristol-Myers Squibb Says Study Shows Reyataz-Based Treatment Regimen Lowers Odds of HIV Rebound

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Bristol-Myers Drug Said Cuts HIV Rebound: Bristol-Myers Squibb Says Study Shows Reyataz-Based Treatment Regimen Lowers Odds of HIV Rebound

Associated Press - November 18, 2005

NEW YORK - Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Friday that a lower percentage of HIV patients taking its Reyataz-based treatment regimen experienced a rebound in their virus levels compared with treatments based on other protease inhibitors.

Reyataz, also a protease inhibitor, is a substance that prevents white blood cells that have been infected with HIV from producing new copies of the virus.

The study of 419 HIV-positive patients taking protease inhibitors found that 7 percent of those who had their treatment switched to a Reyataz-based regimen had their virus levels go back up, compared with 16 percent of patients who continued with their respective protease inhibitor treatments. Patients switched to the Reyataz group outnumbered those that did not by 2-to-1 in the study.

The company did not identify other protease inhibitors used. Commercially available protease inhibitors include GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Agenerase and Lexiva, Boehringer Ingelheim's Aptivus, Merck & Co.'s Crixivan, Roche's Holding Ltd.'s Fortovase and Invirase, Abbott Laboratories' Kaletra and Norvir, and Pfizer Inc.'s Viracept.

Bristol-Myers Squibb shares rose 30 cents to $22.27 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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