April 7, 2008

Guidelines Panel Leaves Abacavir Recommendations Unchanged

The expert panel that produces the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-1-Infected Adults and Adolescents has issued a communication indicating that abacavir (found in Ziagen, Epzicom and Trizivir) should remain a preferred drug for use in people who are starting HIV treatment for the first time.

Abacavir was moved from “alternative” to “preferred” when the guidelines were last updated in January 2008. Subsequently, a study was published showing an increased risk of heart attacks in people taking abacavir, and a group of patients in a second study were unblinded and told what medications they were taking, because of an increased number of treatment failures in a group of people taking abacavir who had viral loads over 100,000 before starting treatment.

In response to these two studies, the guidelines panel issued a statement that concluded, “At this point, the Panel concludes that the preliminary information available from these studies does not warrant a change in its current recommendations regarding the use of antiretroviral drugs in adults and adolescents. The Panel will continue to review additional data as they become available and will make further recommendations if needed. Meanwhile, the Panel recommends clinicians consider all available information so that the optimal therapeutic choice for each patient is based on individual patient characteristics and the potential risks and benefits of each treatment component.”

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