Friday, July 10, 2009

Merck announced on Thursday that the FDA has approved expanded use of its HIV drug, Isentress, Reuters reports (Pierson, 7/9). Isentress has been FDA-approved since 2007, but was limited "to use in patients who had drug-resistant strains or were failing on other therapies, also in combination with other HIV drugs. Now it can be used in all adult patients," the AP/CNBC.com reports. According to AP/CNBC.com, "Isentress is an integrase inhibitor, meaning it works by blocking the enzyme integrase, one of three types of enzymes the AIDS virus uses to reproduce and infect cells" (7/9).