Guidelines for T-20
29 July 2004. Related: Antiretrovirals.
Guidelines for using T-20, (enfuvirtide, Fuzeon), have been produced by an international panel of experienced clinicians following a Roche-sponsored roundtable meeting and were published in 21 May issue of AIDS. They provide in greater detail a similar approach to that recommended in the British HIV Association (BHIVA) Guidelines.
The guidelines address:
- Use of resistance history and testing to optimise background therapy
- Optimal and less-than-optimal uses of T-20
- Safety and toxicity: injection site reactions, pneumonia and hypersensitivity
- Importance of training and support from healthcare professionals to assistant patients in successfully introducing T-20 into their daily routines
- Investment in patient training programmes to yield significant returns in the maintenance of adherence, patient confidence, and in the benefit of T-20 therapy.
The full guidelines are only available online to subscribers or as a pay-to-view article but reprint copies are available free from the Roche Drug Information Department on 0800 328 1629.
Comment
The changes to the expanded access programme for tipranavir (see earlier article) should mean that patients waiting to use T-20 with additional active drugs, now have a more supportive regimen.
Guidelines for using T-20 in London have been produced by the London Drugs Advisory Group of the HIV Commissioners Consortium, and this is posted to the BIVA website:
http://www.bhiva.org/consortium/t20.html