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Australian Prescriber Vol. 31 No. 3 2008

Enfuvirtide for HIV disease

Enfuvirtide is a new drug for the treatment of HIV disease. It works by preventing the HIV virus from entering CD4 cells.

When taken with other drugs for HIV, enfuvirtide lowers the number of viruses in the blood and increases CD4 T cell counts in many people. However, it has to be injected twice a day under the skin which often causes discomfort (pain, swelling, and itching) at the injection site.

In some people, the HIV virus can develop resistance to enfuvirtide. If this happens, the drug is no longer effective.