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  • Title: Researchers are rethinking role of AZT in drug therapy.
    Journal: AIDS Policy Law; 1995 Oct 06; 10(18):11. PubMed ID: 11362821.
    Abstract:
    The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is reconsidering whether AZT should remain the drug of first choice for the treatment of HIV. The September 14 decision to hold a meeting on the matter is based on preliminary evidence from a NIAID-funded study showing that the drug didanosine, or ddI, is considerably more effective than AZT in treating asymptomatic HIV. The study, AIDS Clinical Trial Group 175, also found AZT used alone to be less effective than combinations of AZT with ddI or zalcitabine (ddC). The death rate for patients taking ddI alone was 5 percent over 147 weeks, 10 percent for those only taking AZT, and 9 percent for those taking ddC and AZT. For AZT naive patients, AZT administered alone did not perform as well in promoting survival and slowing progression to AIDS, compared to those who took ddI alone, or a combination of AZT and either ddI or ddC. NIAID Director, Anthony S. Fauci, said he will ask independent experts to assess the results of the study and two similar studies, CPCRA 007 and the DELTA trial, which evaluated patients with CD4 T-cell counts of less than 200 and less than 350, respectively. For now, Glaxo-Wellcome's AZT remains the drug most recommended for HIV treatment, with ddI and ddC as a second line of defense. AZT's effectiveness was also questioned recently when the AIDS Clinical Trials Group 019 found no clinical benefit from the drug for those who had been infected for some time but had CD4 counts in excess of 500.
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