Excerpt from CNN Interactive
February 24, 1997 Web posted at: 10:30 p.m. EST

AIDS drug 'cocktail' works so well, trial halted early

WASHINGTON (Reuter) -- A major study of AIDS therapies showed that the new drug "cocktails" work better than earlier treatments for the disease, even in patients with advanced cases, scientists said on Monday.

Preliminary results of the study -- sponsored by the National Institutes of Health -- were so encouraging that the trial was halted early so that all patients could have the option of getting the more aggressive new therapies incorporating drugs called protease inhibitors.

Not all patients with advanced AIDS fare well even on the new therapies, but the study found better survival rates and slower disease progression in the group getting combination therapy. There were 18 deaths in the study offering only two drugs, versus only eight deaths in the protease cocktail group.

Several smaller studies in the 18 months or so have shown that the new combination therapies, usually involving three drugs, have suppressed the AIDS virus in newly infected patients, and there has been encouraging data about more advanced patients. But because of its size and design, this is considered a landmark study.

"The results ... confirm the importance of using protease inhibitors in treatment strategies for patients with advanced HIV disease," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH.

"Significantly, the current study provides additional evidence that combination approaches using protease inhibitors can reduce the risk of death," Fauci said.

Patients with advanced AIDS were either given two older anti-viral drugs, or they were given two of the older drugs along with one of the new protease inhibitors. Three protease inhibitors are on the market but this study used Crixivan made by Merck.

"Information from this study will help people with HIV/AIDS and their physicians around the world in making well-informed treatment decisions," said Dr. Jeffrey Chodakewitz, senior director of clinical research at Merck Research Laboratories USA.

Merck said about 130,000 people around the world are taking Crixivan.

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus and attacks the body's immune system. There is no known cure for the disease.

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