February 2007

A Feb. 23 column by Adam Feuerstein titled Merck-Gilead Drug Duel Is Heating Up was incomplete as originally published. Due to an editing error, four paragraphs were inadvertently omitted from the column. The missing material is as follows:

To that end, Merck and Gilead have developed drugs that fight HIV by inhibiting integrase. Specifically, integrase is the enzyme responsible for allowing viral DNA to enter the nucleus of the host cell and integrate into the host cell genome. Clinical data presented so far by both companies have excited HIV researchers because integrase inhibitors appear to be very effective in fighting the virus with fewer side effects than current HIV medicines.

Merck's drug goes by the name MK0518. At the CROI meeting, Merck will present for the first time clinical data from two phase III studies testing MK0158 in combination with other HIV drugs in treatment-experienced HIV patients. Said another way, these are patients in whom the virus has developed resistance to certain current HIV drugs. ...