You are right too. No one thinks these drugs are a cure, but the best we have now. I did not mean to put a damper on the discussions here.They are interesting. Impressive formulas too. And I do value your analysis, Bill. Guess this dark cloud over the market is getting to me, too. Hope you chose the right options, Randy. Oliver, thanks for that information on delavirdine, and it's favorable interaction with viracept. There was a study presented at ICAAC, that showed favorable results when delavirdine, a relatively weak non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, was added to patients who were failing therapy with with crixivan, AZT, and 3TC. 15-25% of patients showed a 2-3 log decrease in viral load, and in 20-30% of patients, viral load became undetectable (<400 copies/mL). Patients also showed increase in CD4 count ranging from 30-90 cells/mm3, over a 7 month period. Authors (P.C.Bellman et al) did not know if improvements were the result of a direct antiviral effet or due to the inhibition of crixivan metabolism by delavirdine, resulting in a rise of crixivan levels in the blood to the therapeutic range. Looks like the same response occurs with Viracept and delavirdine, from your post. Looks like it may increase the level of the pi in the blood. |