HIV drug discovery 'a positive development'
Thursday 18th February 2010
Biomedical scientists who have developed the herpes drug Aciclovir may have been praised by the wider medical community after a recent study in The Lancet found that the medicine reduces the advancement of HIV-1 by 16 per cent.
The research in Africa found that taking 400 mg of Aciclovir twice daily had positive effects on the progression of the disease.
Commenting on this, Annabel Kanabus, director of Avert, said the discovery was welcome news among biomedical scientists and patients alike.
However, the issue of distributing the drug still had to be addressed.
"The trouble is that although there are known to be other cheap drugs that can potentially delay progression, there are still difficulties about actually getting them to the right people," she stated.
Research by biomedical scientists to come up with better treatments is also important, as well as assessing the full potential of Aciclovir as the current main antiretroviral drugs "are still quite toxic", Ms Kanabus added.
Written by Megan Smith
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