As of 2021, the Food and Drug Administration has granted approval to 26 individual drug agents and 22 fixed-dosed combination (FDC) drugs comprised of two or more antiretrovirals. This includes the first antiretroviral drug regimen, called Cabenuva, which requires a once-a-month or once-every-two-months injection rather than having to take an oral dose every day.
Antiretroviral therapy is quickly changing, with newer drug agents offering fewer side effects, greater durability, and a decreased risk of drug resistance. In the past, antiretroviral therapy was described as a three-drug “cocktail.” Today, with improved pharmacokinetics and a longer drug half-life, antiretroviral therapy may involve as few as two co-formulated drug agents.
Entry/Attachment Inhibitors
As per their name, entry/attachment inhibitors work by blocking the virus’s ability to attach to or enter healthy host cells. They do so by binding to different receptors on the surface of the host cell that HIV uses to lock onto and/or enter the cell. Without the means to enter a cell, HIV cannot replicate.
Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) block the action of reverse transcriptase and so prevent the replication of the virus.
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