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What is alovudine?
- Alovudine, also known as MIV-310, is an anti-HIV medication. It is in a category of HIV medicines called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). Alovudine prevents HIV from entering the nucleus of healthy T-cells. This prevents the cells from producing new virus and decreases the amount of virus in the body.
- Alovudine is being co-developed by Medivir, a company based in Sweden, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Alovudine has not yet been reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- In March 2005, Medivir announced that development of alovudine was being halted due to limited performance of the drug in a clinical trial conducted by Boehringer Ingelheim. No future studies of alovudine are planned.
What is already known about alovudine?
- The necessary dose of alovudine has not yet been determined. At the present time, a liquid form of alovudine, taken by mouth, is being studied in clinical trials.
- Test tube studies suggest that alovudine is active against HIV strains containing mutations that result in resistance to other nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs).
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 Like other NRTIs, alovudine might interact with other medications, including those used to treat HIV. It is important that your personal physician and/or the research nurse or study investigator be aware of all drugs you are taking, including those you buy without a prescription.
What has been learned from clinical trials?
- A phase II clinical trial enrolled 15 HIV-positive people who had become resistant to other nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) in the past. For four weeks, the study volunteers added 7.5mg alovudine (taken once a day) to their current regimens. After four weeks, all of the study volunteers saw their viral loads decrease upon adding alovudine. However, reductions in viral load were much more pronounced in those who were not also taking Zerit® (d4T) than those who were, suggesting that alovudine should not be combined with either Zerit or, quite possibly, Retrovir® (AZT).
- A second Phase II trial using alovudine in combination with other anti-HIV drugs in people who have used other anti-HIV drugs in the past is expected to begin before the end of 2004.
What is known about side effects?
- Very little is known about the possible side effects of alovudine. In an early clinical trial of alovudine, using a 20 mg/daily dose, the most common side effects were anemia and neutropenia. Additional information is necessary to determine the side effects of alovudine, at the lower doses currently being studied, in larger and longer-term studies.
Who should not take alovudine?
- It is not known whether alovudine will harm an unborn baby. It is very important to treat HIV/AIDS during pregnancy to reduce the risk of infecting your baby. Talk to your doctor about your treatment options.
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 It is not known whether alovudine passes into breast milk and what effect it may have on a nursing baby. To prevent transmission of the virus to uninfected babies, it is recommended that HIV-positive mothers not breast-feed.
Where can I learn more about clinical trials of alovudine?
- If you would like to find out if you are eligible for any clinical trials that include alovudine, there is an interactive web site run by ACRIA, the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America.
- Another useful service for finding clinical trials is AIDSinfo.nih.gov, a site run by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. They have "health information specialists" you can talk to at their toll-free number at 1-800-HIV-0440 (1-800-448-0440).
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