To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: New CCR5 Antagonist SCH532706 Shows Long Half-Life: Presented at CROI URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/21C71A.htm Doctor's Guide February 4, 2008
By Ed Susman BOSTON, MA -- February 4, 2008 -- Even 2 weeks after stopping treatment with the experimental antiretroviral SCH532706, the patient's viral load remains depressed, indicating that the drug can be dosed on a once-a-day basis, researchers reported here at the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). In the proof-of-concept trial, patients with HIV were given the chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) antagonist SCH532706 for 10 days. CCR5 is one of the ports that HIV uses to enter the cell. "After 10 days we observed an average decrease of 1.3log10 in viral load," said Sarah Pett, MD, Clinical Project Leader, National Centre in HIV, St. Vincent's Medical Centre, University of New South Wales, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia. However, she said that viral load did not reach a nadir until day 15, when the average reduction in circulating virus was down 1.6log10. Nine of the 12 patients were able to reduce viral loads by at least 1log10. Reductions in viral loads also persisted during the 14-day washout period, Dr. Pett said. By day 10 of the study, patients' CD4-positive cell count had increased an average of 59 cells/mL. Median baseline CD4-positive count was 327 cells/mcL. "The half-life of SCH532706 is about 40 hours," Dr. Pett said in a press briefing on February 2. She presented the data at the conference on February 3. Dr. Pett said the long half-life would make it possible to administer the drug once daily. After the 10-day trial and 14-day washout period, the 12 men in the study were offered the opportunity to go on combination therapy with SCH532706 and approved antiretroviral drugs. Ten of the patients agreed to continue the drug in an expanded study. Average age among the subjects was 36 years; 4 of the men were naive to antiretroviral therapy, while the other 8 patients had previously been prescribed antiretrovirals for 3 to 71 months at baseline. [Presentation title: Safety and Activity of SCH532706, a Small Molecule Chemokine Receptor 5 Antagonist in HIV-1-infected Individuals. Abstract 38] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.