AEGiS-GMHC: In Brief: Oral CMV Medications Gay Men's Health CrisisImportant note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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In Brief: Oral CMV Medications

GMHC Treatment Issues; Volume 4 no. 1 January 29, 1990

Two drugs are now in development that may eliminate the need for catheters for patients with CMV. The first is an oral form of ganciclovir (DHPG), the drug that has been approved for CMV retinitis. Research to date has shown that the pill form of the drug is not well absorbed but that blood levels of the drug that inhibit CMV can be achieved this way. Syntex, the company that makes ganciclovir, is conducting a Phase I trial to see how well the drug is tolerated. The study has two arms: people who are HIV positive with evidence of CMV in the blood but no organ damage, and PWAs with a diagnosis of CMV retinitis, who have received a four-week course of IV ganciclovir with stabilization of their retinitis.

Oclassen Pharmaceuticals is developing another oral drug for CMV called FIAC. This drug is well absorbed from the gut. FIAC is also active against hepatitis B and Epstein-Barr virus. In the test tube, the drug works against two out of three strains of CMV that are resistant to ganciclovir. A Phase I trial at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and other centers is assessing the drug's toxicity at various doses.


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