HIVID Approved For Monotherapy In USA

The US Food and Drug Administ-ration has approved the marketing of Hoffmann-La Roche's Hivid (zalcitabine) as a monotherapy treatment for HIV-positive individuals who are intolerant to Wellcome's Retrovir (zidovudine) or whose disease progressed while taking zidovudine. The drug was appro-ved in the USA as a combination therapy with zidovudine in 1992.

Hoffmann-La Roche said that the last major study with zalcitabine demonstrated that it is at least as effective as Bristol-Myers Squibb's (didanosine) in delaying disease progression and death (Marketlet-ter March 21). The company also noted that the drug does have some associated side effects, including peripheral neuropathy and pancreatitis.