Home      Login

Abstract: 

On March 15, 2003 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Fuzeon (Enfuvirtide; T-20), an injectable drug from a new class of antiretroviral agents called “fusion inhibitors.” Fusion inhibitors interfere with the entry of HIV- 1 into cells by inhibiting the merging of the virus with the cellular membrane, the first step in viral infiltration. This inhibition blocks HIV before it enters the human immune cell (e.g., CD4+ T lymphocyte). Fuzeon is a novel, synthetic, 36-aminoacid peptide that binds to a region of the envelope glycoprotein 41 of HIV type 1 (HIV-1) that is involved in the fusion of the virus with the membrane of the CD4+ host cell. Fuzeon exhibits inhibition of HIV-1 in vitro without cytotoxicity, and is the first inhibitor of HIV entry to demonstrate activity in persons infected withHIV-1.

Keywords: subcutaneous, Hypersensitivity, side effects, Guillain-Barre syndrome, Reconstitution

Affiliations:  1: HIV/AIDS Bureau Health Resources and Services Administration.