FDA approves use of HIV drug for younger patients
While HIV can prove expensive to live with, patients can save money on their medications by shopping through a Canadian internet pharmacy, where they may purchase drugs such as raltegravir.
While HIV can prove expensive to live with, patients can save money on their medications by shopping through a Canadian internet pharmacy, where they may purchase drugs such as raltegravir. This may be of particular interest to parents of pediatric patients because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Dec. 21 that raltegravir, known by the trade name Isentress, is now approved for children aged 2 to 18 years.
Raltegravir is an antiretroviral drug that blocks the HIV virus from producing integrase, an enzyme that the pathogen needs to replicate itself, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ultimately, this medication may help reduce one's viral load while simultaneously increasing the count of CD4 T-cells.
The FDA's approval was based on clinical trials of HIV patients aged 2 to 18 years. After 24 weeks of treatment, 53 percent of subjects had undetectable levels of HIV in their blood.
"Many young children and adolescents are living with HIV and this approval provides an important additional option for their treatment," Edward Cox, MD, MPH, of the FDA said in a statement.
Isentress, taken twice a day, is available in chewable and non-chewable forms, which are not interchangeable, according to the FDA.
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