Aug. 20, 2002 NEW BRUNSWICK/PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Belgian and
American scientists have collaborated in discovering several new
potential anti-AIDS drugs, including compounds that can block
all known drug-resistant strains of the virus. While current
anti-HIV therapies have saved lives, the emergence of drug-
resistant strains of the rapidly mutating virus has been a major
obstacle to successful long-term treatment. Two of the new
drugs, Dapivirine (also called R147781 or TMC120) and R165335
(also called TMC125), are derived from the dianilinopyrimidine
(DAPY) family of highly potent compounds. Both have shown great
promise in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. Dapivirine,
based on its ease of manufacture and low cost, is a viable
candidate for treating AIDS in the developing world, home to 95
percent of all HIV-infected patients, the researchers said. It
is also being tested as a microbicide to prevent the
transmission of HIV. A third compound (R278474), scheduled for
Phase I trials, is even more active agains