The place of saquinavir in the treatment of HIV infected adult in years 2001

Saquinavir is an HIV protease inhibitor (PI) which, formulated as a hard-ge l capsule (HCG), was the first drug of its class to become available for th e treatment of patients with HIV infection. The limited bioavailability of this drug was responsible for a reduced number of prescriptions when new PI were available. Since 1997, combination therapy with ritonavir has improve d the pharmacokinetics parameters resulting in a better clinical benefit. S aquinavir (HGC) monotherapy is not yet recommended. Soft gel capsule (SGC) has improved biodisponibility. Efficacy of SQV has been shown in clinical s tudies in first and second line of treatment with Pl. Resistance profile is favorable considering the low level of cross resistance with other Pl. Bet ter knowledge of saquinavir could help giving back a place to this drug in the anti HIV arsenal. (C) 2001, Masson, Paris.