There are currently 19 drugs licensed and used for the treatment of HIV, and these drugs are divided into one of four classes depending on how they attack HIV.

Listed below are the classes of drug and the individual drugs within each class. Anti-HIV drugs tend to have more than one name. Listed first is the name the drug is normally called by in this country, then in brackets the generic name for the drug is listed, and finally the drug company’s patented tradename for the drug.

Nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI, or Nukes for short)

Drugs in this class include AZT (zidovudine, Retrovir),ddI (didanosine, Videx), 3TC (lamivudine, Epivir), d4T (stavudine, Zerit), abacavir (Ziagen), and FTC (emtricitabine, Emtriva). There is also a nucleotide analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor called tenofovir (Viread).

AZT and 3TC is available in a combined pill called Combivir and AZT, 3TC and abacavir are available in a combined pill called Trizivir.

There is also a single pill combining 3TC and abacavir, called Kivexa.

A single pill combining FTC and the nucleotide analogue tenofovir called Truvada is a also available.

A single pill combining FTC, tenofovir and the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), efavirenz (Sustiva) has been developed. It is called Atripla.

Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI, or non-Nukes for short)

Drugs in this class are efavirenz (Sustiva), etravirine (Intelence) and nevirapine (Viramune).

A single pill combining efavirenz with the NRTI, FTC and the nuceotide analogue, tenofovir, has been developed. It is called Atripla.  

Protease inhibitors (PIs)

Drugs in this class are lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra), indinavir (Crixivan), ritonavir (Norvir), nelfinavir (Viracept), saquinavir (Invirase), atazanavir (Reyataz),  fosamprenavir (Telzir), tipranavir (Aptivus), and darunavir (Prezista).

Fusion inhibitor, entry and integrase inhibitors

There is only one fusion inhibitor, T20 (enfuvirtide, Fuzeon). It is the only anti-HIV drug at the moment that needs to be taken by injection. Its use is usually reserved for people who have taken a lot of anti-HIV drugs in the past.

Maraviroc (Celcentri) is a CCR5 inhibitor. It works by stopping HIV locking onto immune system cells. Vicriviroc is another CCR5 inhibitor that is currently being investigated in clinical trials.

Raltegravir (Isentress) is an integrase inhibitor and it stops HIV from integrating into human cells by inhibiting a protein called integrase.

Finding out more

You can find out a lot more about these drugs including by visiting www.aidsmap.com, or by reading the NAM booklet Anti-HIV drugs, which is available free of charge from HIV clinics, or can be downloaded from aidsmap.com.