Companies to Develop All-In-One HIV Pill

[Khephra]

Companies to Develop All-In-One HIV Pill




By LINDA A. JOHNSON
AP Business Writer

December 21, 2004, 8:28 AM EST

TRENTON, N.J. -- In an effort to make medication regimens easier for HIV-positive patients, two drug companies have announced plans to collaborate on the first all-in-one, one-a-day pill to treat the infection.

Currently, the best AIDS treatment requires patients to take two to four pills a day. Less than a decade ago, many patients had to take 25 to 30 pills a day, often at precise times and under specific conditions such as with food, making it extremely difficult for patients to stick to the complex schedule. Missing doses makes it easier for the virus to mutate and become resistant to medication.

In the first collaboration by competing AIDS drug makers, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Gilead Sciences Inc. announced Monday that they have formed a joint venture to test and market a single pill combining three widely used medicines.

Because the three individual drugs already are on the market, the once-a-day combination could be approved and on sale as early as the second half of 2006, said David Rosen, a spokesman for Bristol-Myers Squibb.

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/wire/sns-ap-aids-combo-pill,0,5091490.story?coll=sns-ap-health-headlines

[MrUnderhill]

1. Great news!!!

It also means a single co-pay.

[Mistress Quickly]

2. Good

My brother has to take so many pills, and with food (many of them) that he is full before he gets done.

Plus I would hope one prescription would be cheaper than 20+. Lucky for my brother, he has a sponsor.