Infection with Human Immunodefi ciency Virus (HIV) leads to progressive immune destruction as a result
of persistent viral replication. Antiretroviral therapy has been shown to decrease viral replication, increase
CD4+ T-cell count, decrease the frequency of opportunistic infections, improve quality of life and prolong
life expectancy of HIV infected patients.
Although the concept of actual eradication remains speculative at this time, significant progress in
antiretroviral therapy has brought forth the concept of HIV infection as a chronic, manageable condition.
In Malaysia, there are 6 groups of antiretroviral agents that are available:
Antiretroviral Drugs Available in the Ministry of Health, Malaysia
1. Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors(NRTI)/Nucleotide Reverse Transcriptase
Inhibitors (ntRTI)
a. Zidovudine (AZT) (Retrovir ®)
b. Didanosine buffered(ddI) or enteric coated(ddI EC) (Dinex EC ®)
c. Stavudine (d4T)
d. Lamivudine (3TC)
e. Abacavir (ABC) (Ziagen ®)
f. Tenofovir (TDF) (Tenvir ®)
g. Emtricitabine (FTC) (available as combination with tenofovir)
2. Non Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor (NNRTI)
a. Nevirapine (NVP) (Hirapine ®)
b. Efavirenz (EFV) (Stocrin ®)
c. Etravirine (Intelence)
3. Protease Inhibitors (PI)
a. Indinavir (IDV) (Crixivan ®)
b. Lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) (Kaletra ®)
c. Saquinavir
d. Atazanavir (ATV)
e. Darunavir (Prezista) (Prezista ®)
f. Ritonavir (Crixivan ®)
g. Nelfi navir (Viracept)
4. Integrase Inhibitors
a. Raltegravir (Isentress)
5. CCR5 Antagonists
a. Maraviroc (Celsentri)
6. Fusion Inhibitor
a. Enfuritide (Fuzeon)