An analysis of FDA-approved drugs for infectious disease: HIV/AIDS drugs

Michael S Kinch; Eric Patridge

doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2014.05.012

An analysis of FDA-approved drugs for infectious disease: HIV/AIDS drugs

Drug Discov Today. 2014 Oct;19(10):1510-3. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2014.05.012. Epub 2014 May 28.

Authors

Michael S Kinch¹, Eric Patridge²

Affiliations

¹ Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, Yale University, 600 West Campus Drive, West Haven, CT 06516, USA. Electronic address: michael.kinch@yale.edu.
² Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, Yale University, 600 West Campus Drive, West Haven, CT 06516, USA.

PMID: 24880109
DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2014.05.012

Abstract

HIV/AIDS is one of the worst pandemics in history. According to the World Health Organization, 26 million people have died since 1981 - 1.6 million in 2012 alone. The dramatic rise in HIV/AIDS mobilized a swift and impressive coordination among governmental, academic and private sector organizations to identify the virus and develop new treatments. Herein, we assess the arsenal of 28 new molecular entities (NMEs) targeting HIV/AIDS. These data demonstrate that the first approval of zidovudine presaged an expansion of the antiviral repertoire over the following years. Whereas the rate of HIV/AIDS NMEs is rapidly declining, so is the number of organizations developing NMEs. We speculate that decisions to abandon further research reflect, in part, growing costs and time required for development.

MeSH terms

Anti-HIV Agents / therapeutic use*
Drug Approval / statistics & numerical data*
HIV Infections / drug therapy*
Patents as Topic
United States
United States Food and Drug Administration

Substances

Anti-HIV Agents