Reverse Transcriptase News and Research

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Nature inspires new highly specific drugs and organic products

The best place to seek novel compounds for pharmaceutical drugs, alternative energy sources, and a host of industrial applications, is within natural systems that have evolved over millions of years.

2 Sep 2008

Gilead initiates phase III trial of Elvitegravir

Gilead Sciences, Inc. has announced that it has begun enrolling patients in a Phase III clinical trial of its investigational antiretroviral agent elvitegravir (GS 9137), a novel oral integrase inhibitor that is being evaluated for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.

22 Jul 2008

UGA discovery could lead to new ways to attack cancers by blocking their ability to grow

Human cancer cells divide and conquer. Unless physicians can control that division with surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, the wildly dividing cells will eventually destroy a person's life.

10 Jul 2008

Researchers to compare common ARV as a pill and vaginal gel in unique HIV prevention study

In battle with an epidemic that has outpaced nearly all efforts to contain it, researchers are turning to strategies centered on the same antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that have been used successfully to treat HIV in hopes they will be as effective a stronghold for preventing the virus.

9 Jul 2008

Research reveals workings of anti-HIV drugs

Using ingenious molecular espionage, scientists have found how a single key enzyme, seemingly the Swiss Army knife in HIV's toolbox, differentiates and dynamically binds both DNA and RNA as part of the virus's fierce attack on host cells. The work is described this week (May 7) in the journal Nature.

8 May 2008

Scientists discover how reverse transcriptase molecules interact with the HIV genome

Using ingenious molecular espionage, scientists have found how a single key enzyme, seemingly the Swiss army knife in HIV's toolbox, differentiates and dynamically binds both DNA and RNA as part of the virus' fierce attack on host cells. The work is described this week in the journal Nature.

7 May 2008

Tenofovir gel safe for daily use over an extended period

A vaginal microbicide that incorporates an antiretroviral (ARV) drug normally used to treat people with HIV is safe for sexually active HIV-negative women to use every day over an extended period, suggest results of a clinical trial of tenofovir topical gel.

27 Feb 2008

Experimental anti-HIV gel is safe for women to use on a daily basis

An experimental anti-HIV gel is safe for women to use on a daily basis, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

26 Feb 2008

Invitrogen and Agilent Technologies resolve all pending patent litigations

Invitrogen Corporation and Agilent Technologies have jointly announced a confidential settlement of multiple patent litigations pending between the two companies.

5 Feb 2008

New anti-HIV medication etravirine shows great promise

The AIDS Institute, a national public policy research, advocacy, and education organization, is encouraged with the FDA's approval of the first new non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) in nearly a decade.

4 Feb 2008

Improved diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis thanks to new techniques

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a non-lethal disease but can have grave consequences for the patient.

25 Jan 2008

AIDS Healthcare Foundation criticizes Etravirine's pricing

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has urged Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a division of Johnson & Johnson, to reconsider and reduce its steep price for its newest AIDS drug, etravirine (TMC 125), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, (NNRTI), which received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval on Friday after a fast track or 'priority review' and approval process granted to companies for medications and therapies intended to treat life-threatening illnesses such as AIDS.

22 Jan 2008

FDA approves etravirine tablets for HIV

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved etravirine tablets for the treatment of HIV infection in adults who have failed treatment with other antiretrovirals.

21 Jan 2008

New HIV drug will help millions

Statistics released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that as many as 33 million people worldwide are currently living with the HIV virus which also killed 2 million people in 2007.

20 Jan 2008

New virus drug will have to shoot at moving targets

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22 Oct 2007

New biosensor detects avian influenza in just minutes

Quick identification of avian influenza infection in poultry is critical to controlling outbreaks, but current detection methods can require several days to produce results.

27 Sep 2007

Ardea Biosciences completes phase 1 trials of HIV drug RDEA806

Ardea Biosciences, Inc. has announced that it has successfully completed Phase 1 single-ascending-dose, multiple-ascending-dose, food-effect, and drug-interaction studies of RDEA806, a novel HIV non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), in healthy volunteers.

5 Sep 2007

Tibotec Pharmaceuticals submits NDA for investigational HIV treatment

Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has announced the submission of a New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for TMC125 (etravirine), an investigational non- nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), being studied for use with other antiretroviral (ARV) agents as a treatment for people infected with HIV- 1.

19 Jul 2007

Etravirine reduces HIV viral loads when taken with Prezista

The experimental antiretroviral drug etravirine, made by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, greatly reduces HIV viral loads in people with a history of drug resistance when taken in combination with Tibotec's antiretroviral Prezista, according to two studies published Saturday in the journal The Lancet.

10 Jul 2007

Etravirine effective for HIV supression

Treatment with TMC125 (etravirine) leads to better virological suppression than placebo as part of antiretroviral therapy in patients with documented resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), conclude two randomised trials in this week's issue of The Lancet.

8 Jul 2007