The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved two new drugs for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. Two pharmaceutical companies namely Jansenn and Bristol-Myers Squibb have designed the drugs namely Evotaz and Prezcobix that are both protease inhibitors that work by preventing the virus from forming new ones.
HIV infection has no known cure. However, certain medications can prevent the virus from proliferating and hence, can lengthen the patient's life. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is a total of 47,989 diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States by 2012. The HIV prevalence estimate says that at the end of 2010, an estimated 1,144,500 persons aged 13 and older were living with HIV infection in the United States, including 180,900 (15.8%) persons who do not know they have the virus.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Company developed Evotaz which has two components. It contains 300 mg of Atazanavir and 150 mg of Cobicistat. This drug is used in combination with other antiviral drugs in the treatment of HIV-1 infection.
In a press release by BMS, Evotaz is the very first anti-HIV drug that is enhanced by Cobicistat and supported by series of studies and clinical trials. Evotaz is designed with two drugs combined in one pill to be taken just once a day. It combines the protease inhibitor Atazanavir, which was developed by Reyataz and Cobicistat, a pharmacokinetic enhancer marketed by Gilead Sciences, Inc. It is proven to be effective in HIV virus suppression through 48 weeks.
On the other hand, Jansenn Pharmaceuticals have released Prezcobix in its aim to prevent the cells which were infected by the virus to replicate and form new cells containing the virus. According to AidsMeds, this drug also contains Cobicistat which is used to boost the amount of Darunavir in the blood. Darunavir is the other component of this medication that aims to inhibit the replication of the virus in the body.
Both medicines aim to prevent virus replication and can lengthen the life of the patient. It prevents progression of HIV infection into the potentially deadly complication, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).