Antiviral drugs in the treatment of AIDS: what is in the pipeline ?

Drug development in the field of HIV treatment is rapid. New nucleoside analogues (NRTI), non-nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI), and protease inhibitors (PI) are currently being investigated in human trials. Furthermore, inhibitors of HIV attachment, fusion and integrase with novel modes of action are being developed, which offer new perspectives for the goal of a normalization of life-expectancy in HIV-infected individuals. The most advanced compounds likely to become licensed soon include the NNRTIs rilpivirine and etravirine, the integrase inhibitors raltegravir and elvitegravir, and maraviroc and vicriviroc, novel inhibitors of the CCR5 chemokine receptor, which functions as the major coreceptor for HIV-1.