FDA approves once-daily Zerit

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a new, extended-release form of the HIV nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor Zerit (d4T), which will be marketed as Zerit XR by drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb. The new formulation can be taken just once a day. Data from clinical trials of the medication show that it is as effective as the standard twice-daily dosing of d4T and that reducing the pill burden may help people with HIV better stick to their anti-HIV drug regimens.