Study Confirms that Combination Treatment Using a Protease Inhibitor Can Delay HIV Disease Progression and Death

The benefit was statistically significant for the subset of patients with CD4+ T cell counts less
than 50/mm3 and there was a similar trend for patients with CD4 counts between 50 cells/mm3
and 200 cells/mm3. There were 18 deaths in the double therapy arm versus eight'deaths in the
triple therapy arm.
In addition, the safety of each treatment regimen was closely monitored. There were no
major differences in the safety or toxicity of the two treatment regimens and the study
medications were well-tolerated.
The drugs used in this study were provided by their manufacturers: Merck & Co., Inc.
(indinavir/Crixivan~), Glaxo Wellcome, Inc. (ZDV/Retrovir~ and 3TC/Epivir~), and BristolMyers Squibb Co. (d4T/Zerit~ and ddllVidex~). Merck also provided financial support for the
study.
NIAID, a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), supports scientists and
scientific studies at universities, medical schools and research institutions in the United States
and abroad. As part of its efforts to improve the quality and duration of life of HIV-infected
individuals, the Institute supports four diverse AIDS clinical trials programs: the Adult AIDS
Clinical Trials Group, the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group (PACTG), the Terry Beirn
Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS (CPCRA), and the Division of Intramural
Research clinical trials program on the NIH campus. NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services.
NIAID press releases, fact sheets and other materials are available on the Internet via the
NIAID home page at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.
The NatJ~ioiial InstItute ot AIlergy and I Itectious IDiseases
IS.1 complonent ot the Nitional Institutes of Health,0
U.S. IDepartmnent of Health and Human Services