Analysis of Long-Term Vicriviroc Data Provides Evidence of Sustained Viral Suppression, Increased CD4 Cell Counts and Tolerability in Treatment-Experienced HIV-Infecte...( Data Analysis of Up to Four Years...),Health

Data Analysis of Up to Four Years of Treatment Presented at ICAAC/IDSA 2008 Annual Meeting

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) today reported a data analysis showing that vicriviroc, its investigational CCR5 receptor antagonist, demonstrated sustained viral suppression and increased CD4 cell counts and was well tolerated through up to four years of therapy in treatment-experienced HIV-infected patients. Vicriviroc was administered once-daily as a single tablet in combination with an optimized antiretroviral regimen containing a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor. These results represent the longest treatment duration and clinical experience reported to date for a CCR5 receptor antagonist.

Vicriviroc, currently in Phase III development, is an extracellular inhibitor of HIV infection designed to prevent the virus from infecting the immune system's CD4 cells by blocking the CCR5 co-receptor. Approximately 50-60 percent of treatment-experienced patients have virus that uses the CCR5 co-receptor.(1)

Researchers presented the data at the joint Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) annual meeting.(2)

The pooled data analysis involved 205 treatment-experienced HIV-infected patients from two vicriviroc Phase II studies who continued on vicriviroc at the completion of 48 weeks of treatment in an open-label extension for each study. Patients received vicriviroc for up to 216 weeks of total treatment duration as part of an optimized antiretroviral regimen.

This analysis showed that vicriviroc was well tolerated overall, with patients developing few complications of HIV disease. Adve
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