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International HIV/AIDS Community Gains Access To Updated USA Treatment Guidelines
New Recommendations for First-Line Treatment

Ingelheim, Germany (ots-PRNewswire) -

The Journal of the American
Medical Association (JAMA) today published HIV/AIDS treatment
guidelines updated by the International AIDS Society's (IAS) USA
Panel on antiretroviral therapy use in adult HIV-1 infection. The
updated guidelines reflect the increasingly important role of
VIRAMUNE(R) (nevirapine) and other non-nucleoside reverse
transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
The guidelines identify three strongly recommended treatment
regimens for use as first-line therapy. Among these options is the
new recommendation to begin therapy with an NNRTI plus two nucleoside
analogues. Authors cite two advantages of an NNRTI-based regimen: low
pill burden and sparing the use of a protease inhibitor (PI). Other
options strongly recommended by the panel for first-line treatment
are two nucleoside analogues with either one or two protease
inhibitors.
"VIRAMUNE is an important agent for first-line treatment of HIV.
It is potent, requires only two pills daily, and can be taken with or
without food," said Professor Joep Lange of the National AIDS Therapy
Evaluation Centre (NATEC), University of Amsterdam. "Physicians have
been using VIRAMUNE as a first-line treatment for several years.
Recognition by the IAS expert panel will encourage continued use of
VIRAMUNE in this utility."
The guidelines included new data on VIRAMUNE based on results of
the Atlantic Study, which demonstrated that a Viramune-based regimen
was as effective in reducing the amount of the AIDS virus in a
patient's blood as a regimen based with the protease inhibitor
indinavir. According to the guidelines, "virologic and CD4+ cell
count results of a study comparing Viramune+ddI+d4T with
indinavir+ddI+d4T were similar at 24 weeks."
It is suggested that choice of a regimen be individualized based
on several criteria including the strength of supporting data and on
regimen potency, tolerability, adverse effect profile and
convenience. The guidelines also outline the differences between
antiretroviral drug combinations.
VIRAMUNE
VIRAMUNE is indicated for use in combination with other
antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. This
indication is based on analysis of changes in surrogate end-points.
At present, there are no results from controlled clinical trials
evaluating the effect of VIRAMUNE in combination with other
antiretroviral agents on the clinical progression of HIV-1 infection,
such as the incidence of opportunistic infections or survival.
VIRAMUNE should always be administered in combination with other
antiretroviral agents.
VIRAMUNE is generally well-tolerated. In clinical trials the most
commonly reported adverse events associated with VIRAMUNE use are
rash, fever, nausea, headache and abnormal liver function tests.
Severe and life-threatening skin reactions and hepatotoxicity,
including fatal cases of each, have occurred in patients treated with
VIRAMUNE.
VIRAMUNE is a product of original research done at Boehringer
Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim
group of companies. VIRAMUNE is marketed world-wide by Boehringer
Ingelheim and in the United States by Roxane Laboratories, also a
member of the Boehringer Ingelheim group of companies.
The Boehringer Ingelheim group of companies, with headquarters in
Ingelheim (Germany) is one of the 20 leading pharmaceutical
corporations in the world. It reported revenues exceeding DEM 8.7
billion in 1998.
The corporation has more than 140 affiliated companies and it
conducts business on every continent. Its product range is focused on
human pharmaceuticals -- hospital, prescription and self-medication
-- as well as animal health.
Substantial research and development, production, and distribution
facilities are located around the globe. In 1998 Boehringer Ingelheim
spent DEM 1.6 billion on R&D, equivalent to 18% of total sales.
For more information on Boehringer Ingelheim please see also the
company's Internet webpage http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com.
* Antiretroviral drugs mentioned in this release: d4T (Zerit(R),
    stavudine) and ddI (Videx(R), didanosine), Bristol-Myers Squibb;
    indinavir (Crixivan(R)), Merck & Co.
-- The guidelines can be found on the web at   
    http://www.ama-assn.org/special/hiv/library/scan/jan00/jan00d.htm
   -- Additional information on VIRAMUNE can be found on the web at
      http://www.VIRAMUNE.com
   -- Additional information on the Atlantic Study can be found on
      the web at
      http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/3657/index.html
ots Original Text Service: Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH
Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de

Contact:

Judith von Gordon, Corporate Public Relations Division of Boehringer
Ingelheim GmbH, Tel. +49-6132-773582, or
fax, +49-6132-776601; or
Maureen Byrne, Tel. (USA) 212-886-3312, or
Denise Connolly, Tel. (USA) 212-886-3117, both of GCI Healthcare,
fax, (USA) 212-886-3291, for Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH

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