Researchers’ efforts seem to be coming to fruition as drug giant Pfizer Inc. is planning to bring anti-AIDS drug into the market. Now you may ask what is peculiar about this new drug. Actually, this new drug, called Maraviroc is the result of a long research that got on the track in 1996, when scientists solved a mystery, which was surrounding certain gay men who were immune to AIDS.
Interestingly, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Schering-Plough Corp. has also stared working on the same issue by chasing their own CCR5-blockers during 1996 but unfortunately, that drug turned out to be toxic as a result Glaxo had to halt its project.
During the course of several clinical trials it has been well established that this drug called, maraviroc, when combined with other medicines, is more effective than existing therapies in treating AIDS patients. The following conclusion based on the data provided by Pfizer brings out drug’s (Maraviroc) efficacy quite precisely:
Maraviroc, when used in combination with other drugs, more effectively suppressed blood levels of the virus than the standard three-drug HIV therapy is current use.
According to experts, this new drug may gain regulatory approval this year and generate more than $300 million in sales by 2011 for New York-based Pfizer Inc. we must hope that this new drug would emerge as a potent weapon against HIV/AIDS.
Image credit: Playfuls
Via: Bloomberg
