DRUG cocktails involving AZT and other, newer anti retroviral agents are proving most successful against HIV and the EU is in the process of approving several of them. The latest to be approved is Videx, made by Bristol Myers Squibb, which demonstrated a nearly 50 per cent relative reduction in risk of death compared with patients receiving AZT in clinical trials.
The EU is also considering approval of 3TC, also known as Epivir, after Glaxo Wellcome announced the dramatic results of the latest international tests involving 1,892 HIV positive patients. They showed a 54 per cent reduction in the rate of progression to AIDS or death for those treated with the drug. Glaxo Wellcome said that as a result, a study to determine its effectiveness has been officially discontinued to allow everyone taking part access to a cocktail of 3TC and AZT.
Earlier this month, scientists at an AIDS conference in Canada were told about a study in New York involving 12 patients who were given a mixture of 3TC, AZT and another drug, Norvir. Several months after treatment began, HIV levels in nine of the men had fallen to below detection levels.