FOSTEMSAVIR HIV attachment inhibitor USAN Anti-HIV agent

The pharmaceutical companies, in an attempt to find the safest and most efficacious option for the HIV-1-infected population, are investigating a variety of drugs with different mechanisms of action. At the moment, although viral replication seems to be under control with the use of novel antiretroviral drugs, HIV has not been eliminated, and treatment options need, therefore, to be improved. In the last few years, treatment development has been largely dominated by integrase inhibitors, with the approval of elvitegravir and dolutegravir, either as individual agents or combined with other drugs. These have engrossed the list of highly active antiretroviral drugs available, like maraviroc or raltegravir. The entry inhibitors are novel antiretroviral drugs under development that interact with any step of the HIV entry into the target cells. These steps include viral attachment, coreceptor binding and membrane fusion. Fostemsavir, also known as BMS-663068, is an attachment inhibitor with a very promising pharmacokinetic profile and high potency. Recent phase II studies reveal that it is well tolerated and highly efficacious in reducing plasma HIV-1 RNA levels after 8 days. Combinations of this attachment inhibitor with other antiretroviral drugs and other clinical studies are currently under investigation.