Main types of HIV drugs
There are five main types of drugs that work at different parts of the HIV lifecycle.
| RTIs or nukes | Reverse transcriptase inhibitors – also called nucleoside or nucleotide analogues |
| NNRTIs | Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors or non-nukes |
| PIs | Protease inhibitors |
| EIs | Entry inhibitors – CCR5 inhibitors are also entry inhibitors |
| INIs | Integrase inhibitors |
Within each class, only a few drugs or combinations are recommended.
Even though there are over 25 HIV drugs and hundreds of potential choices, only two main types of combination are recommended.
Guidelines recommend starting with either:
2 nukes + an NNRTI
or
2 nukes + a ritonavir-boosted PI.
Within each class, only a few drugs or combinations are recommended. But it is good to know other options are there if you need them.