ACTG Highlights

AIDS CLINICAL TRIALS GROUP
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
The AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) is a cooperative clinical trials network established by
the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to evaluate promising therapies
for use against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS, and the
opportunistic infections and cancers that characterize AIDS. The ACTG consists of 47 AIDS
Clinical Trials Units located at universities and medical centers throughout the United States,
NIAID, and a Statistical and Data Analysis Center.
The goals of the ACTG are to conduct clinical trials that will (1) provide timely information to
guide physicians in the selection of appropriate therapies for their patients, and (2) lead to the
approval of new drugs.
The ACTG evaluates therapies for all aspects of HIV disease in adults and children, and
conducts the full range of clinical trials, from early safety studies to large-scale, multicenter
efficacy studies. The ACTG is built upon the concept of investigator-initiated research, fostered
by National Institutes of Health, in which the best research ideas compete for support. Because
the ACTG is independent of economic forces that largely determine the research priorities of
industry, it is uniquely able to pursue research questions that are of critical importance to
patients and physicians alike but may not lead to the approval of drugs for marketing.

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