An HIV vaccine is a potential vaccine that could be either a preventive vaccine or a therapeutic vaccine, which means it would either protect individuals from being infected with HIV or treat HIV-infected individuals.
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multiple drugs that act on different viral targets is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HAART decreases the patient's total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system, and prevents opportunistic infections that often lead to death. HAART also prevents the transmission of HIV between serodiscordant same-sex and opposite-sex partners so long as the HIV-positive partner maintains an undetectable viral load.
Entecavir, sold under the brand name Baraclude, is an antiviral medication used in the treatment of hepatitis B virus infection. In those with both HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B virus antiretroviral medication should also be used. Entecavir is taken by mouth as a tablet or solution.
Raltegravir, sold under the brand name Isentress, is an antiretroviral medication used, together with other medication, to treat HIV/AIDS. It may also be used, as part of post exposure prophylaxis, to prevent HIV infection following potential exposure. It is taken by mouth.
Vorinostat (rINN), also known as suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, is a member of a larger class of compounds that inhibit histone deacetylases (HDAC). Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDI) have a broad spectrum of epigenetic activities.
Vicriviroc, previously named SCH 417690 and SCH-D, is a pyrimidine CCR5 entry inhibitor of HIV-1. It was developed by the pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough. Merck decided to not pursue regulatory approval for use in treatment-experienced patients because the drug did not meet primary efficacy endpoints in late stage trials. Clinical trials continue in patients previously untreated for HIV.
Bevirimat is an anti-HIV drug derived from a betulinic acid-like compound, first isolated from Syzygium claviflorum, a Chinese herb. It is believed to inhibit HIV by a novel mechanism, so-called maturation inhibition. It is not currently U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved. It was originally developed by the pharmaceutical company Panacos and reached Phase IIb clinical trials. Myriad Genetics announced on January 21, 2009 the acquisition of all rights to bevirimat for $7M USD. On June 8, 2010 Myriad Genetics announced that it was abandoning there HIV portfolio to focus more on cancer drug development.
The maturation inhibitors are a class of antiviral drugs for the treatment of infection with HIV. They act by interfering with the maturation of the virus. Specifically, drugs in this class disrupt the final step in the processing of the HIV-1 gag protein, the cleavage of its immediate precursor by the enzyme HIV-1 protease. Unlike the class of drugs known as protease inhibitors, maturation inhibitors bind the gag protein, not the protease. This leads to the formation of noninfectious, immature virus particles, incapable of infecting other cells. No other class of drugs shares this mechanism of action, thus maturation inhibitors retain inhibitory activity against HIV infections with resistance.
CCR5 receptor antagonists are a class of small molecules that antagonize the CCR5 receptor. The C-C motif chemokine receptor CCR5 is involved in the process by which HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, enters cells. Hence antagonists of this receptor are entry inhibitors and have potential therapeutic applications in the treatment of HIV infections.
Non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) are antiretroviral drugs used in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). NNRTIs inhibit reverse transcriptase (RT), an enzyme that controls the replication of the genetic material of HIV. RT is one of the most popular targets in the field of antiretroviral drug development.
MK-2048 is the Merck & Co. designation for a molecule in its pre-clinical drug discovery portfolio that is an integrase inhibitor-class of agent selected for development as a preventative treatment against HIV infection. Its second generation integrase design was hypothesized to be superior to the first available integrase inhibitor, raltegravir, in that "MK-2048 has a dissociation half-life of 32 hours on wild-type integrase—more than four times that of raltegravir", and its dissociation half-life against the important HIV integrase mutant N155H was on the same order of magnitude as that of raltegravir against wild-type virus. These findings led Merck representatives to suggest the possibility of "reduced susceptibility to resistance mutations" for the second generation drug. MK-2048 has been investigated for use as part of a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) approach to the treatment of HIV infection; however, the results of a 2015-2016 placebo-controlled human clinical trial indicated no observed correlation between tissue-associated VCV and/or MK-2048 and the inhibition of HIV infection, limiting expectations for this compound's efficacy for such applications. At the time of these reports, there was no indication of the time by which "MK-2048, or related compounds, [would] be ready for clinical trials".
Censavudine is an investigational new drug being developed by Bristol Myers-Squibb for the treatment of HIV infection. It was originally developed at Yale University. It is still in an investigational phase of development as of 2023.
Cenicriviroc is an experimental drug candidate for the treatment of HIV infection and in combination with Tropifexor for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. It is being developed by Takeda and Tobira Therapeutics.
The first human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) case was reported in the United States in the early 1980s. Many drugs have been discovered to treat the disease but mutations in the virus and resistance to the drugs make development difficult. Integrase is a viral enzyme that integrates retroviral DNA into the host cell genome. Integrase inhibitors are a new class of drugs used in the treatment of HIV. The first integrase inhibitor, raltegravir, was approved in 2007 and other drugs were in clinical trials in 2011.
BI 224436 was an investigational new drug under development for the treatment of HIV infection. BI 224436 is the first non-catalytic site integrase inhibitor (NCINI). It inhibits HIV replication via binding to a conserved allosteric pocket of the HIV integrase enzyme. This makes the drug distinct in its mechanism of action compared to raltegravir and elvitegravir, which bind at the catalytic site. In October 2011, Gilead Sciences purchased exclusive rights to develop BI 224436 and several related compounds under investigation in Boehringer Ingelheim’s noncatalytic site integrase inhibitor program.
A rectal microbicide is a microbicide for rectal use. Most commonly such a product would be a topical gel inserted into the anus so that it make act as protection against the contract of a sexually transmitted infection during anal sex.
Simeprevir, sold under the brand name Olysio among others, is a medication used in combination with other medications for the treatment of hepatitis C. It is specifically used for hepatitis C genotype 1 and 4. Medications it is used with include sofosbuvir or ribavirin and peginterferon-alfa. Cure rates are in 80s to 90s percent. It may be used in those who also have HIV/AIDS. It is taken by mouth once daily for typically 12 weeks.
Ledipasvir is a drug for the treatment of hepatitis C that was developed by Gilead Sciences. After completing Phase III clinical trials, on February 10, 2014, Gilead filed for U.S. approval of a ledipasvir/sofosbuvir fixed-dose combination tablet for genotype 1 hepatitis C. The ledipasvir/sofosbuvir combination is a direct-acting antiviral agent that interferes with HCV replication and can be used to treat patients with genotypes 1a or 1b without PEG-interferon or ribavirin.
Fostemsavir, sold under the brand name Rukobia, is an antiretroviral medication for adults living with HIV/AIDS who have tried multiple HIV medications and whose HIV infection cannot be successfully treated with other therapies because of resistance, intolerance or safety considerations.
Lobucavir is an antiviral drug that shows broad-spectrum activity against herpesviruses, hepatitis B and other hepadnaviruses, HIV/AIDS and cytomegalovirus. It initially demonstrated positive results in human clinical trials against hepatitis B with minimal adverse effects but was discontinued from further development following the discovery of increased risk of cancer associated with long-term use in mice. Although this carcinogenic risk is present in other antiviral drugs, such as zidovudine and ganciclovir that have been approved for clinical use, development was halted by Bristol-Myers Squibb, its manufacturer.
