Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 25 Dec 95
The drug is ritonavir, formerly known as ABT-538 and developed by Abbott Laboratories, which announced Monday that it will make the experimental drug available via lottery to 2,000 people worldwide with advanced AIDS.
In the first study, an international research team led by Dr Sven Danner of Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam gave various doses of ritonavir to 84 volunteers infected with the AIDS virus.
The experiment did not compare ritonavir with AZT or other treatments, but it did seem to increase the number of infection-fighting white blood cells, which decline during an infection with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
The team found the increase in the white blood cell count faded away after 16 weeks for people who took the lowest doses of ritonavir. But among the seven patients who got the highest dose, white blood cell levels stayed high and the virus measured in the blood declined throughout the 32-week test.
Whether that will translate into a longer, healthier life for people infected with the AIDS virus remains to be tested.
The same question remains unanswered in the second study, by U.S. researchers led by Dr Martin Markowitz of the New York University School of Medicine. They gave the drug to 62 volunteers in one of four doses for 12 weeks.
The Markowitz team also saw a reduction in the number of copies of the AIDS virus in the blood and a rise in white blood cells. The improvements lasted for all 12 weeks.
Ritonavir is not without side effects, the studies said. Ten of the 84 people in the Danner study dropped out because of problems such as nausea and diarrhea. It also sparked chemical imbalances and created a pins-and-needles sensation around the mouths of some people.
In the Markowitz study, 10 of the 62 volunteers did not complete their treatment.
Abbott Laboratories said all 2,000 lottery winners who participate in its experiment must have a CD4+ white cell count of 50 or lower, a sign of advancing disease. Volunteers in the Danner study all had CD4+ counts of 50 or greater.
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