ICA9 Report: TAT and Protease Inhibitors

ICA9 Report: TAT and Protease Inhibitors

Being Alive Newsletter, Being Alive/Los Angeles - July 1993
Mark Katz, MD and reported by Jim Stoecker

The tat and protease inhibitors work at a different point in the HIV life cycle than do all the antivirals mentioned above. After this year's conference, the hopes for tat inhibitors seem to be somewhat diminished, while the studies of protease inhibitors go forward.

The Roche Company has been developing a tat inhibitor and dose escalation studies are underway. The problem with this approach, however, is that some researchers now believe that the virus can bypass tat. HIV may not need this gene to reproduce and thus tat may not be the gene to inhibit. These researchers suggest there would be greater efficacy in targeting the rev gene. Tat inhibitors, however, may be useful in treating KS, if not as a general antiviral.

Protease inhibitors continue to be the most exciting new antiviral. This drug works at the last stage of viral reproduction and is potentially effective in chronically infected cells where HIV is already in the nucleus.

Many companies are working on developing a marketable protease inhibitor. The Abbott version had to be continuously infused and thus proved unusable. The Roche formulation has been tested on over 200 study participants in three European countries. So far, no significant adverse effects have been seen and, at higher doses, the drug seemed to raise CD4. We still have no hard data on the efficacy of protease inhibitors, but the studies are going forward.

930700
BA930707

AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Roxane Laboratories, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1993. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

Copyright © 1993 - Beings Alive. Permission granted for noncommercial reproduction, provided that our address and phone number are included if more than short quotations are used. Subscription lists are kept confidential. Being Alive, 621 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069, Tel - 310.289.2551; FAX - 310.289.9866; Email: BeiAlive@aol.com http://www.beingalivela.org/

This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1993. AEGIS.