AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY
Contact: Carrie Patterson
(202) 942-9389
NEW HIV DRUG FORMULATION REDUCES DAILY PILL-COUNT
WASHINGTON, DC - December 18, 2005 --
A new tablet formulation of an HIV drug reduces the number
of pills a patient has to take each day by a third and eliminates
the need for refrigerating the medication. Researchers from
Abbott Laboratories report their findings today at the 45th
Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
"A new tablet formulation of lopinavir/ritonavir was
developed to decrease the daily pill count from 6 capsules
to 4 tablets and to eliminate the need for refrigeration.
Compared with the capsule formulation which must be taken
with food, the tablet formulation can be taken with or without
food," says Cheri Klein of Abbott Laboratories, who presented
the research.
One of the many problems people with HIV experience with their
medication is they often have to take many pills each day,
some requiring refrigeration or that food be taken with them.
These complicated handling and dosing procedures can often
lead people seeking a normal lifestyle not to take their HIV
drugs properly, or in cases where refrigeration is not available,
not at all.
Klein and her colleagues compared the blood levels of the
protease inhibitors lopinavir and rotinavir between the tablet
and capsule formulations when the combination treatment was
administered to 15 HIV-negative healthy adults. Each subject
was given a 800/200 mg dose of lopinavir/ritonavir in tablet
form and then in capsule form, separated by at least 5 days.
The concentration time profiles for the drug were similar
for both, but the tablet exhibited slightly higher bioavailability
and tended to result in a lower incidence of gastrointestinal
side effects.
The table formation was recently approved in the United States.
Known as one of the premier infectious disease meetings in
the world, ICAAC, a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology,
is a rich source of news including the latest public health
research and new drugs. More information on 45th ICAAC, being
held this year from December 16-19 in Washington, DC, can
be found in the online press kit (English only) at http://www.asm.org/Media/index.asp?bid=38551.
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