Ibalizumab in combination with other antiretroviral(s) for multidrug-resistant HIV-1 infection

Ibalizumab in combination with other antiretroviral(s) has been developed for the treatment of adults infected with multidrug-resistant HIV-1 (MDR HIV-1). HIV is a virus that damages the cells in the immune system and weakens the ability to fight everyday infections and diseases. HIV-1 is the most common type of HIV infection, which is incurable but there are effective treatments that enable most infected people to live a healthy life. Antiretroviral medicines are used to treat HIV. There are however limited effective treatments for some treatment-experienced patients with extensive MDR HIV-1.
Ibalizumab is given by intravenous infusion. It is an antiretroviral medicine that acts against HIV-1. It stops the virus entering the target cells by binding to a receptor called CD4 receptor and prevents the viral transmission that occurs via HIV to host cell fusion and infected host cell to uninfected host cell fusion. Ibalizumab in combination with other antiretroviral(s) will offer an additional treatment option for patients infected with MDR HIV-1 for whom it is otherwise not possible to construct a suppressive antiviral regimen. This patients group currently have limited effective therapies available.