| "A new AIDS drug that received accelerated federal approval last summer is significantly better at attacking highly resistant HIV than existing drugs, according to a study of 230 patients published Wednesday. " "Darunavir, part of the decade-old class of drugs known as protease inhibitors, lowered virus levels to the undetectable range in 45 percent of patients after 48 weeks. " ""The results were very, very good -- in many ways, perhaps, better than anyone would've expected," said Dr. Rodger MacArthur, an infectious-diseases specialist at Wayne State University in Detroit, who was not affiliated with the study. " "The results of the patient study, combined with the recent development of several new classes of AIDS medications, have opened a whole new realm of options to battle the increasing problem of drug-resistant HIV, according to Dr. Steven Johnson, director of the HIV/AIDS Clinical Program at the University of Colorado. " "Darunavir, trade named Prezista, was approved last year before normal testing was completed to meet the urgent need of those patients with drug-resistant HIV. " "The approval required the drug's developer, Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd. of Yardley, Pa., to continue safety and efficacy testing. " "The latest results, published in the medical journal Lancet, combined two international studies funded by Tibotec. " "The study looked at patients who had failed to respond to at least three different kinds of AIDS drugs " "In addition, 110 patients were given 600 milligrams of darunavir boosted
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