New HIV Drug Recommended For FDA Approval

Washington, DC -- Health advisers recommended today that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should approve Maraviroc, a new drug that targets the cells of HIV-infected patients and not the virus itself.

The new drug, which pharmaceutical company Pfizer hopes to sell under the brand name Celsentri, blocks a secondary but crucial doorway typically used by the HIV virus to enter white blood cells, AP reports. It would represent the first so-called CCR5 receptor antagonist to be sold.

Researchers have known for more than a decade that people who lack a working version of the CCR5 receptor doorway are highly resistant to infection by HIV or slow to develop AIDS once infected.

There has previously been some concerns about the new drug class because it has shown some greater risk of infection, lymphoma or liver damage in HIV patients but FDA reviewers noted no increase in lymphomas or infections among patients given Celsentri, and only a modest increase in liver problems.

Pfizer will now further study Celsentri's interaction with other drugs and its effects on women and minorities.