CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
An experimental HIV drug from Merck & Co. Inc. should be quickly approved for use by patients running out of treatment options, federal advisers recommended Wednesday.
The panel of outside experts agreed unanimously that available data support accelerated approval of Isentress, also known as raltegravir, by the Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA isn't required to follow the advice of its outside advisory panels but does so most of the time. Merck expects an agency decision by mid-October. If approved, Isentress would be the first in a new class of antiretroviral drugs called integrase inhibitors.
The Merck drug targets integrase, one of three enzymes used by the virus to replicate and infect cells. The FDA previously has approved drugs that target the two other enzymes, protease and reverse transcriptase.
Isentress is meant to be used as part of a ''cocktail'' of drugs to fight HIV in patients who have developed a resistance to older medications.
Last month, the FDA approved another novel HIV drug, Pfizer Inc.'s Selzentry. That drug is the first that works by blocking a crucial doorway, called the CCR5 receptor, that HIV often uses to enter white blood cells. (AP)
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
31 Period Films of Lesbians and Bi Women in Love That Will Take You Back
December 09 2024 1:00 PM
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
These 15 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
January 24 2025 1:11 PM
True
Latest Stories
Federal government to remove gender dysphoria from protected disabilities list
April 16 2025 7:29 PM
U.S. activists call U.K. anti-trans ruling 'a serious blow' to human rights
April 16 2025 4:38 PM
Maine Gov. Janet Mills hits back after Trump sues state for transgender sports policies
April 16 2025 11:09 AM
Can ‘Protect the Dolls’ move fast enough to save trans youths?
April 16 2025 7:00 AM
Marriage equality or same-sex marriage? Why the language matters
April 16 2025 6:00 AM