Drugs produced dramatic change in HIV patient

I have been able to see the use of these two new Tibotec drugs in action. Both look to be quite promising. TMC125 is most notable in that it's a new non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). We haven't seen a new drug in this class in some time. Its resistance profile is quite good as well. Typically, if the HIV virus is resistant to one of the existing NNRTI's, the virus is resistant to all drugs in this class. TMC125 appears to be effective in these resistant patients.

One addtional bit of info not included in this article: TMC125 has been given the generic name of etravirine. I have not heard of a suggested brand name yet.

From the Vancouver Sun:
The human immunodeficiency virus could have killed Vancouver artist Tiko Kerr 20 years ago, just as it claimed so many other promising lives.

Instead, his successful battle to live is now propelling him on a whirlwind world tour, talking to drug researchers, doctors and scientists about his story of survival and the two controversial AIDS drugs that helped him beat the odds.

"I've really come to the conclusion that the worse you have to go through, the greater the reward," Kerr says of his dramatic change in fortune.

The tour began in December, when Kerr, just shy of the one-year anniversary of his initial treatment with TMC114 and TMC125 as part of a small clinical trial at St. Paul's Hospital, travelled to New Jersey where he was invited to speak at the corporate headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, and its subsidiary, Tibotec, which developed the two drugs. ...more