Given the specificity of the target of these drugs there is the risk, like with antibiotics, of the development of drug-resistant mutated viruses. To reduce this risk, it is common to use several different drugs together that are each aimed at different targets.
Antiretroviral protease inhibitors act by binding to the catalytic site of HIV protease, preventing cleavage of viral polyprotein precursor proteins into functional viral proteins required for viral replication.[4] Most ARPIs are peptide-like molecules which resemble the substrate of the viral protease.[4]
Protease inhibitors were the second class of antiretroviral drugs developed. The first members of this class, saquinavir, ritonavir, and indinavir, were approved in late 1995–1996. Within 2 years, annual deaths from AIDS in the United States fell from over 50,000 to approximately 18,000[5] Prior to this the annual death rate had been increasing by approximately 20% each year.
Non-antiretroviral antiviral activity
A drug combination targeting SARS-CoV-2, Paxlovid, was approved in December 2021 to treat COVID-19.[12] It is a combination of nirmatrelvir, a protease inhibitor targeted to the SARS-CoV-2 3C-like protease, and ritonavir, which inhibits the metabolism of nirmatrelvir, thereby prolonging its effect.[13]
^ a b c"The Use of Stems in the Selection of International Nonproprietary Names (INN) for Pharmaceutical Substances" (PDF). World Health Organization. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^Programme on International Nonproprietary Names (INN) (February 2023). "Pre-stems: Suffixes used in the selection of INN - February 2023". World Health Organization.
^Ahmad B, Batool M, Ain QU, Kim MS, Choi S (August 2021). "Exploring the Binding Mechanism of PF-07321332 SARS-CoV-2 Protease Inhibitor through Molecular Dynamics and Binding Free Energy Simulations". International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 22 (17): 9124. doi:10.3390/ijms22179124. PMC 8430524. PMID 34502033.
^ a b"Protease Inhibitors (HIV)", LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury, Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 2012, PMID 31644200, retrieved 2024-06-20
^"HIV Surveillance --- United States, 1981--2008". Retrieved 8 November 2013.
^British National Formulary 69 (69 ed.). Pharmaceutical Pr. March 31, 2015. p. 426. ISBN 9780857111562.
^"Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-1-Infected Adults and Adolescents" (PDF). Developed by the DHHS Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents—A Working Group of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OARAC). July 14, 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^Madruga JV, Berger D, McMurchie M, et al. (Jul 2007). "Efficacy and safety of darunavir-ritonavir compared with that of lopinavir-ritonavir at 48 weeks in treatment-experienced, HIV-infected patients in TITAN: a randomised controlled phase III trial". Lancet. 370 (9581): 49–58. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61049-6. PMID 17617272. S2CID 26084893.
^Liz Highleyman, Patient Advocates Commend Pricing of New PI Darunavir, http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/recent/2006/ad1/063006_a.html
^Darunavir - first molecule to treat drug-resistant HIV
^Borman S (2006). "Retaining Efficacy Against Evasive HIV: Darunavir analog to AIDS-virus shapeshifters: Resistance may be futile". Chemical & Engineering News. 84 (34): 9. doi:10.1021/cen-v084n034.p009.
^"First doses of Paxlovid, Pfizer's new COVID pill, are released to states". NPR. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
^"Paxlovid: Drug label information". DailyMed, US National Library of Medicine. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
^Fantry, LE (2003). "Protease inhibitor-associated diabetes mellitus: A potential cause of morbidity and mortality". Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 32 (3): 243–4. doi:10.1097/00126334-200303010-00001. PMID 12626882.
^Capaldini, L. (1997). "Protease inhibitors' metabolic side effects: cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and "Crix belly"". AIDS Treatment News (277): 1–4. PMID 11364559.
External links
A brief history of the development of protease inhibitors by Hoffman La Roche, Abbott, and Merck
HIV/AIDS Treatment Guidelines US Department of Health and Human Services