Emtricitabine shows superiority to stavudine in HIV infections

Emtricitabine [FTC; 'Coviracil'] is more effective and better tolerated than stavudine when the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors were used as part of a 3-drug combination in the treatment of antiretroviral-naïve patients with HIV infections, according to results of a pivotal phase III study presented at the 42nd annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) [San Diego, US; September 2002]. 'In this study, once daily emtricitabine with didanosine and efavirenz was statistically superior to stavudine, didanosine and efavirenz in efficacy, safety and tolerability', said presenter Dr Michael Saag from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, US.