Basic
Informations
Fuzeon is an HIV medication.
It is in a category of HIV medicines called fusion inhibitors, or
more broadly, entry inhibitors.
Fuzeon binds to a protein on HIV's surface called gp41. Once it does
this, HIV cannot successfully bind with the surface of CD4 cells,
thus preventing the virus from infecting healthy cells.
Fuzeon is a fusion inhibitor
that was developed by Trimeris and Hoffmann-La Roche and is now sold
by Genentech, a division of Roche. It was approved by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) in March, 2003. Fuzeon is approved for
HIV-positive people who have tried other HIV drugs in the past and
are unable to keep their viral loads undetectable using drugs that
are currently available. It has not yet been approved for
HIV-positive people who are starting HIV drug treatment for the
first time.
Fuzeon must be used in combination with other HIV drugs.
Drugs
Interactions
Fuzeon might interact with
other medications, including those used to treat HIV. It is
important that your personal physician and/or the research nurse or
study investigator be aware of all drugs you are taking, including
those you buy without a prescription.
Fuzeon holds promise for HIV-positive patients who have taken (and
failed) numerous HIV drugs in the past. Because Fuzeon targets HIV
differently than currently available drugs, chances are that most
people living with the virus—regardless of the medications they have
taken in the past—will likely benefit from using Fuzeon. Two large
clinical trials have determined that Fuzeon, when combined with
other drugs, is effective for patients who have failed other HIV
drugs in the past. However, Fuzeon worked best when it was combined
with at least two other drugs that the virus was sensitive to
(patients who used Fuzeon in combination with drugs that their virus
was highly resistant to did not experience decreases in their viral
load for very long). In this way, it is best to use drug-resistance
testing to determine which drugs your virus is sensitive to and to
use the results of testing to figure out which are the best HIV
drugs to combine with Fuzeon.
It is also expected that Fuzeon, when combined with other HIV drugs,
will have strong activity against HIV in people who have never taken
HIV medications in the past. According to early results from one
study, Fuzeon taken alone reduced viral load from anywhere between
30% to more than 90% in patients who had not taken any other HIV
drugs in the past. Fuzeon is not yet approved by the FDA for
HIV-positive people who are new to HIV treatment. HIV can become
resistant to Fuzeon, particularly if it (combined with other HIV
drugs) is not able to reduce viral load to undetectable levels or
keep viral load undetectable. Drug-resistance tests are able to
determine if your virus has become less sensitive to Fuzeon, in the
event that your viral load becomes detectable or increases while you
are taking this drug.
Side
Effects
Injection site reactions --
symptoms that occur at the spot where you inject Fuzeon -- have been
the most common side effect reported in studies. Reactions may
include pain and discomfort, hardened skin, redness, bumps, itching
and swelling. Most reactions are mild, but occasionally may be
severe. While 98% of patients that take Fuzeon report injection site
reactions, only 4% have stopped taking the drug because of this skin
irritation.
A reaction at one skin injection site usually lasts for less than 7
days. Injection site reactions may be worse when injections are
given again in the same place on the body, or when the injection is
given deeper than it should be (for example, into the muscle).
In clinical trials, patients taking Fuzeon with other HIV medicines
got bacterial pneumonia more often than patients not receiving
Fuzeon. It is unclear if this was related to the use of Fuzeon. You
should contact your healthcare provider right away if you have a
cough, fever or trouble breathing.
Although very rare, allergic reactions have been seen with Fuzeon
and can occur again the drug is restarted. Symptoms can include
rash, fever, nausea and vomiting, chills, shaking, low blood
pressure and increased liver enzymes.
Other side effects may occur as a result of taking Fuzeon, including
peripheral neuropathy, insomnia, depression, decreased appetite,
fatigue, muscle pain, constipation, and pancreas problems.
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