WEDNESDAY, Aug. 04, 2004 (HealthDayNews) --
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two new "fixed-dose combination drug treatments" for HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS therapy generally requires simultaneous use of three or more drugs from different classes. Combination products bring together different HIV/AIDS drugs in a single medication or co-package, and help make treatment regimens less complicated for patients to follow, the FDA said.
The new drug treatments are Epzicom (abacavir/lamivudine), manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline; and Truvada (tenofovir disoproxil/emtricitabine), which is made by Gilead Sciences, Inc., the agency said.
"Simplifying treatment regimens by reducing the number of pills and times per day patients need to take them provides significant public health benefits," said Dr. Lester M. Crawford, acting FDA Commissioner.
To learn more about AIDS, visit the National Library of Medicine's Medline Plus site.
