Posted on Fri, Jul. 10, 2009
The Food and Drug Administration said late Thursday that it has approved expanded use of a Merck & Co. HIV drug, Isentress.
Known chemically as raltegravir, it is now approved for treating new and existing patients with the virus that causes AIDS, in combination with other types of HIV drugs.
Isentress was developed at Merck's West Point, Pa., facility.
The drug got an accelerated approval from FDA in October 2007, limiting it to use in patients who had drug-resistant strains or were failing on other therapies, also in combination with other HIV drugs.
Now it can be used in all adult patients.
Isentress is an integrase inhibitor, meaning it works by blocking the enzyme integrase, one of three types of enzymes the AIDS virus uses to reproduce and infect cells.
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