The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7206 p45
13 July 2002

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AIDS 2002 Conference (www.aids2002.org)

Boosted saquinavir better than boosted indinavir at cutting HIV viral loads

More patients treated with a boosted saquinavir regimen had levels of HIV that were undetectable at 48 weeks than patients treated with a boosted indinavir regimen, according to trial results presented at the international AIDS conference held in Barcelona this week.

The new study, MaxCmin 1, compared two boosted protease inhibitor regimens in 317 patients. After 48 weeks' treatment, 68 per cent of those randomised to receive saquinavir 1,000mg plus ritonavir 100mg twice daily had HIV suppressed to undetectable levels compared with 53 per cent of patients randomised to receive indinavir 800mg plus ritonavir 100mg twice daily.

More patients in the indinavir arm withdrew from the study because of side effects than from the saquinavir arm (41 per cent vs 28 per cent).