Roche pharmaceuticals has alerted the community that it is terminating its in-house research for new HIV drugs, according to a letter released to HIV treatment activists.
The company—which in the United States makes the protease inhibitor Invirase (saquinavir) and, in partnership with Trimeris, the fusion inhibitor Fuzeon (enfuvirtide)—has been studying two other types of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Those drugs, CCR5-based entry inhibitors and reverse transcriptase inhibitors, were all in the earliest stages of development. Roche, however, says, “We now have concluded that none would provide a true incremental benefit for patients compared to medicines currently on the market.”
In light of this setback, Roche has “decided to refocus [its] resources within virology on diseases in which [the company] can deliver substantial improvements over existing medicines,” including hepatitis C.
While Roche will continue manufacturing and selling Invirase and Fuzeon—and Viracept (nelfinavir) outside the U.S. and Canada—the company says that it will be keeping its eyes open for co-development or purchase of possible HIV drug candidates being explored by other companies.
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
