15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections
Boston, MA
February 3-8, 2008
February 9, 2008
Durable Efficacy and Safety With Isentress Treatment Year-long follow-up data from two Phase III clinical trials of Isentress were reported this week at the 15th CROI, confirming that the drug offers durable antiretroviral activity to those in need of new treatment options.
February 7, 2008
Durable Efficacy Seen in Studies of New NNRTI Intelence Forty-eight weeks of treatment with Intelence, combined with an optimized background regimen, is associated with greater viral load reductions and CD4 count increases compared to placebo among HIV-positive patients with limited treatment options due to drug resistance.
TDM-Guided PI Dose Increases of Limited Benefit
Using therapeutic drug monitoring to guide protease inhibitor dosing in treatment-experienced patients was generally considered to be ineffective, but with benefits seen in black and Hispanic patients, according to the results of a recently completed ACTG study.
February 5, 2008
Once- vs. Twice-Daily Kaletra Tablets: Similar Safety and Potency Once- and twice-daily doses of Kaletra tablets have similar tolerability and comparable efficacy, according to 48-week results from a clinical trial reported yesterday at the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI).
Norvir/Reyataz Comparable to Kaletra for First-Line Therapy Early data from a study comparing Norvir-boosted Reyataz to Kaletra suggest that both drugs have similar effectiveness in HIV-positive patients starting therapy for the first time.
February 4, 2008
Abacavir, Didanosine Linked to Increased Heart Attack Risk
Abacavir—the active drug in Ziagen and a component of Epzicom and Trizivir—may
double the risk of a heart attack in HIV-positive people currently
using the drug, a potential concern for individuals with other major
heart disease risk factors.
Sexual Reinfection With HCV Following Treatment Reinfection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), after undergoing successful treatment for the liver infection, can occur following a subsequent sexual exposure to the virus, according new data involving eight gay and bisexual HIV-positive men reported today at the 15th CROI.
February 12, 2008
VIRxSYS Gene Therapy Makes Progress Researchers have reported encouraging results from a clinical trial of a gene therapy approach to treat HIV.
February 9, 2008
Prezista Effective and Safe in Positive Kids Prezista is showing promise for treatment-experienced HIV-positive children between the ages of six and 17, according to early data from a clinical trial reported this week at the 15th CROI in Boston.
February 7, 2008
Nanotechnology May Yield Long-Lasting Meds Some of the most exciting news to emerge from the 15th CROI this week in Boston involved the fruitful discoveries stemming from the fusion of two modern sciences: drug discovery and nanotechnology.
February 4, 2008
Vicriviroc Shows Well in Treatment-Experienced Patients
Forty-eight weeks of therapy with the CCR5-blocking entry inhibitor vicriviroc, notably a 30 mg once-daily dose of the drug combined with a Norvir (ritonavir) booster, leads to greater viral load reductions compared with placebo among HIV-positive patients with limited treatment options due to drug resistance.
February 9, 2008
Good Bacteria Reduces Vaginal HIV Levels Healthy bacteria (Lactobacillus) limits the amount of HIV detected in the genital secretions of women infected with the virus, Seattle and Rochester researchers report.
February 6, 2008
Male Circumcision Doesn't Reduce Women's HIV Risk Male circumcision may reduce men’s risk of being infected with HIV, but it doesn’t appear to curb the transmission of the virus from men who are already positive to their female partners, according to new data reported earlier this week at the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston.
February 12, 2008
Women & HIV Treatment Regan Hofmann talks with Judith Currier, MD, about treatment and research advances in women living with HIV, and learns that many women are doing quite well.
World of Prevention: Vaccines and More Regan Hofmann talks
with Susan Buchbinder, MD, of the San Francisco Department of Public
Health about new data on circumcision, vaccines, microbicides and other
possible HIV prevention tools.
Condom-Free Sex? Controversial Swiss Declaration Regan Hofmann talks with Bernard Hirschel, MD, of the University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland about a controversial Swiss position paper declaring that HIV-positive people with undetectable viral loads cannot transmit HIV.
February 11, 2008
New Hope for Treatment Experienced David Evans talks
with UCLA researcher, David Hardy, MD, about the latest data on antiretroviral options for people who are heavily treatment experienced and learns that the treatment landscape has changed radically.
February 8, 2008
HIV & Your Heart: Part I David Evans talks with St. Luke’s Roosevelt’s Donald Kotler, MD about the role of inflammation in heart disease and surprising research on Ziagen and heart attacks.
HIV & Your Heart: Part II David Evans continues his discussion with Donald Kotler, MD, talking about diet, lifestyle and new treatments to combat belly fat.
Morris Jackson: Survivor and Treatment Activist David Evans talks with long-term survivor and treatment activist, Morris Jackson, about conference highlights and the benefits of getting involved.
February 7, 2008
Prevention and Women: HIV-positive and HIV-negative Regan Hofmann talks with Harvard’s Valerie Stone, MD, about the challenges and opportunities in working with women, both HIV-positive and HIV-negative, to prevent HIV transmission.
February 6, 2008
Refining HIV Treatment for New Med Takers David Evans talks with Los Angeles HIV specialist, David Hardy, MD, about research to refine and enhance treatment for people taking HIV medications for the first time.
February 5, 2008
AIDS Survival: Progress Not Perfection David Evans talks with Douglas Ward, MD, about success in controlling AIDS-related complications and progress still to be made.
Our general CROI conference coverage was sponsored by Abbott Laboratories, Boehringer Ingelheim and Gilead Sciences.
Additional funding, to support news and video coverage of women's issues at CROI, was provided by Tibotec Therapeutics.
February 9, 2008
Regan Hofmann talks with Judith Currier, MD, about treatment and research advances in women living with HIV, and learns that many women are doing quite well.
Regan Hofmann talks
with Susan Buchbinder, MD, of the San Francisco Department of Public
Health about new data on circumcision, vaccines, microbicides and other
possible HIV prevention tools. 
Regan Hofmann talks with Bernard Hirschel, MD, of the University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland about a controversial Swiss position paper declaring that HIV-positive people with undetectable viral loads cannot transmit HIV.
David Evans talks
with UCLA researcher, David Hardy, MD, about the latest data on antiretroviral options for people who are heavily treatment experienced and learns that the treatment landscape has changed radically.
David Evans talks with St. Luke’s Roosevelt’s Donald Kotler, MD about the role of inflammation in heart disease and surprising research on Ziagen and heart attacks.
David Evans continues his discussion with Donald Kotler, MD, talking about diet, lifestyle and new treatments to combat belly fat.
David Evans talks with long-term survivor and treatment activist, Morris Jackson, about conference highlights and the benefits of getting involved.
Regan Hofmann talks with Harvard’s Valerie Stone, MD, about the challenges and opportunities in working with women, both HIV-positive and HIV-negative, to prevent HIV transmission.
David Evans talks with Los Angeles HIV specialist, David Hardy, MD, about research to refine and enhance treatment for people taking HIV medications for the first time.
David Evans talks with Douglas Ward, MD, about success in controlling AIDS-related complications and progress still to be made.