Kaletra Monotherapy Controversy: AmfAR Publishes Overview
The November 2004 HIV AIDS Treatment Insider (published by the American Foundation for AIDS Research) has a short overview of the controversy around using Kaletra alone for HIV treatment for some patients -- mainly as an option for those who would otherwise have no antiretroviral treatment because they could not afford it.(1) A trial in Houston, Texas with 30 patients reported 48-week data at the big AIDS conference in Bangkok, Thailand in July.
The article, a fair presentation of both sides, also mentions other research plans for testing antiretroviral regimens with fewer than three drugs.
Note: The complete HIV AIDS Treatment Insider has two additional important articles: "Drug Pipelines May Flourish, But Not for HIV," by Kristen Kresge, and "Crunching the Numbers on Pharmaceuticals," by Elizabeth Paukstis. The complete issue can be read on the Web (or downloaded in PDF) at
http://web.amfar.org/treatment/HIV+/insidermenu.asp.
References
(1) Monotherapy: An old strategy garners new interest, by Elizabeth Paukstis. HIV AIDS Treatment Insider; November 2004, volume 5, number 7, http://www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/td/feature/record.html?record=133.
