Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - Wednesday 20 March 2002
Anjira Assavanonda
The information on this new drug was fed to health professionals at a medical seminar on ``Redefining the Art of HIV Management'' organised by the Thai Aids Society (TAS) yesterday.
Dr Praphan Phanuphak, the TAS president, noted that Kaletra had been widely accepted for its effectiveness in reducing the viral load in patients' blood. It is a combination of two drugs, lopinavir and ritonavir.
Dr Manoon Leechawengwong, TAS vice president and principal investigator of HIV anti-viral drugs, said Abbott Laboratories Ltd, manufacturer of Kaletra, had tested the drug on more than 300 Thai volunteer patients since early last year.
In an initial study conducted on 87 patients, 25% of whom who had never received any other antiviral drugs, found that after taking Kaletra in combination with two other anti-retroviral drugs for 24 successive weeks, 75% of the patients saw their viral loads decreased to less than 400 copies/mL, and as high as 66% saw theirs decrease to below 50 copies/mL.
The patients' CD4 cell counts also increased from 118 cells per cubic millimetres, to 183 and 230 cells after using the drug for 8 and 24 weeks respectively.
Those who have never taken any other types of anti-retroviral drugs should respond better to this therapy, he said.
Its side-effects are nausea, diarrhea, and rashes on the skin, but most patients appeared to have tolerated the drug well.
Dr Jurgen Rockstroh, head of the HIV Clinic at the University of Bonn, said the drug has been licenced in the US and other foreign countries for years, which was a guarantee for its safety. In Thailand, the drug has already been approved by the FDA but is still under the safety monitoring programme, which means it is a controlled drug that requires a doctor's prescription.
Dr Praphan said the price of Kaletra is still high, about 13,000 baht to treat a person per month, compared to a new drug to be introduced by the Government Pharmaceutical Office which will cost a patient only 1,200-1,300 in monthly treatment expenses.
He said one of the major worry of Aids sufferers is the expensive price of drugs which makes them beyond the reach of low-income earners.
According to Dr Praphan, there are about 800,000 HIV-infected people in Thailand, and among them the condition of 200,000-300,000 is severe and they are in urgent need of anti-retroviral drugs.
However, it is estimated that only 10% of this group can afford the drugs.
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