{"id":127,"date":"2023-01-01T12:00:12","date_gmt":"2023-01-01T12:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moomango.co.uk\/ttfa\/?page_id=127"},"modified":"2023-01-13T12:04:58","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T12:04:58","slug":"8-why-3-or-more-drugs-are-used","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/ttfa\/section-3\/8-why-3-or-more-drugs-are-used\/","title":{"rendered":"3. 8 Why ART needs combinations of drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>HIV drugs need to be used in combinations. This is because no single drug is strong enough to fight HIV on it&#8217;s own. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is why several drugs are used together.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"expanded\">\n<li>The first HIV drugs were not very potent. From roughly <strong>1987 to 1993<\/strong>, each\u00a0drug was used as single drug treatment. Any benefit was very short-term. Drug resistance also developed quickly.<\/li>\n<li>From<strong> 1994 to 1996<\/strong>, two-drug treatment were used. This was better than just using one drug, and benefits lasted a little longer. But drug resistance still developed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Since 1996<\/strong>, ART has used\u00a0three or more drugs. This was strong enough to reduce HIV to undetectable and to keep it there. This greater potency reduced the risk of drug resistance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Since 2018<\/strong>, a few combinations use only two drugs. This is because the latest <a href=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/category\/arvs\/integrase-inhibitors\" rel=\"noopener\">integrase inhibitors<\/a> are much more potent than the first HIV drugs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Using<strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/category\/arvs\">antiretroviral drugs<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0together is called <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/ART\">ART<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Some drugs combine several drugs into the same pill. Sometimes a whole combination is fitted into a once-daily pill.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, UK and US guidelines include\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/category\/arvs\/fixed-dose-combinations\">ten combinations of oral ART in a single pill<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(and one combination of a long-acting injection).<\/p>\n<p>In the UK however, drug prices mean that some of these combinations are only available as two separate pills. See: <a href=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/44495\" rel=\"bookmark\">National HIV prescribing for England 2022: algorithms and policies<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/12423\">Generic HIV drugs<\/a><\/strong> are also available in single pill formulations. Some drug combinations are only available in generic formulations.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HIV drugs need to be used in combinations. This is because no single drug is strong enough to fight HIV on it&#8217;s own. This is why several drugs are used together. The first HIV drugs were not very potent. From &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":110,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-127","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/ttfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/ttfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/ttfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/ttfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/ttfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/ttfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/127\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/ttfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/ttfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}