Boehringer Ingelheim announces Nefa study results

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced that data from the nevirapine/efavirenz/abacavir (Nefa) study has been published in the most recent issue of Aids.

The study showed that patients switching treatment from protease inhibitor-based regimens to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based regimens that contain Viramune (nevirapine) or efavirenz exhibited improved virologic suppression after three years compared to patients switching to a regimen containing abacavir.

Patients also exhibited comparable safety and efficacy to their previous drugs regimen.

Viramune was the first non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) type anti-HIV pharmaceutical that was developed through research conducted by Boehringer Ingelheim.

Esteban Martinez, professor of medicine at the University of Barcelona, said: “Patients may want to consider simpler regimens that can suppress the virus long term but are more tolerable and have fewer side effects than some protease inhibitor-based therapies.”

He added that the results of the Nefa study showed that patients infected with HIV wanting alternative treatment could benefit by switching to a treatment programme including Viramune or similar compound.

Last November, Boehringer Ingelheim reported that data from the Resist-1 and Resist-2 studies showed that Aptivus (tipranavir) used with ritonavir as part of a combination antiretroviral treatment regimen exhibited improved immunological and antiviral activity at 24 weeks in patients that have shown multidrug resistant HIV-1 infection.