KEY POINTS:
A new drug for HIV/Aids sufferers will reduce side effects and simplify pill regimes, the New Zealand Aids Foundation says.
The once-a-day protease inhibitor atazanavir (Reyataz) will be funded by Pharmac. Protease inhibitors are taken to stop the HIV virus from reproducing.
Pharmac medical director Peter Moodie said HIV patients usually took a combination of different drugs, which had to be changed as people grew resistant to them.
There would be no real cost of funding the new inhibitor as patients prescribed atazanavir would be switching from another, already funded drug.
Side effects from the five inhibitors already available in New Zealand include nausea, tiredness, diarrhoea and increased lipid levels - which in turn can cause complications such as heart disease.
Patients taking protease inhibitors are currently taking as many as 18 pills a day, on top of any other treatments they are taking.
The once-a-day atazanavir would be easier to remember, and reduce the pill burden, foundation national positive health manager Eamonn Smythe said.
Pharmac also announced it would begin funding pravastatin (Pravachol), a cholesterol-lowering drug which is used in conjunction with the inhibitor to control its side effects.
Dr Moodie said atazanavir would benefit about 40 to 50 people with HIV each year. About 30 people would benefit from pravastatin.
- NZPA
