There is good news for those AIDS patients who have stopped responding to available drugs in the name of Isentress [also called raltegravir], a new drug developed by Merck. The lack of response to existing drugs occurs because the HIV virus mutates constantly.
The modus operandi of HIV - It attacks the human cell and injects its genetic substance into the human DNA. It does so by means of three enzymes - reverse transcriptase, protease and integrase. Existing AIDS drugs attack the first two, but Isentress will be a pioneer in taking on the third villain - integrase.
Its results have been impressive. In tests conducted on two sets of AIDS patients, the first were given Isentress and other drugs. The second set of people were administered placebo and other existing medicines. After four months 61-62% Isentress patients had negligible aids virus in their blood, as compared to 33-36% of the ‘placebo’ patients. The heartening part is that the new wonder drug reduces HIV levels to 50 copies per milliliter of blood. Before the treatment by Isentress the levels were about 1000 copies per milliliter.
The bad news - Isentress has side effects which include diarrhea, nausea, headache, muscle damage and increased incidence of liver cancer. But the Medical Expert Committee of FDA feels the pros outweigh the cons and have given the green signal to Isentress.
This is the first AIDS drug by Merck since 1999. The stock markets too seem to have approved of Isentress. The new drug has already pushed up Merck’s stock at NASDAQ composite. Analysts say the new drug has a potential to do a business of $1 billion every year.
