Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.GlaxoSmithKline has commenced phase III clinical trials with its new HIV drug candidate, aplaviroc, that aim to inhibit entry of the virus into human cells.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Entry inhibitors like aplaviroc represent a new mechanism of action in this class of drugs, and potentially a new way of treating patients with HIV. They work by binding to and blocking a receptor called CCR5, on the immune cell surface that is essential for HIV-1 entry and infection.
“The availability of an orally administered entry inhibitor may provide an important treatment option for people infected with HIV-1,” commented Dr Joseph Eron, professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina. “It is imperative that companies like GSK continue with their R&D efforts to expand the number of antiretroviral drugs available with different modes of action or improved efficacy and toxicity profiles.”
According to Reuters, GlaxoSmithKline is speeding up its development process for aplaviroc in order to compete with other major drug companies, including Pfizer and Schering-Plough, who also have HIV entry inhibitors in development.