The XVII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2008)  More
Patients With High Viral Loads Experience Virologic Failure When
Starting Therapy With an Abacavir-Based Regimen Than a
Tenofovir-Based Regimen  An Interview With Paul Sax, M.D.
August 7, 2008  Multimedia Toolbox  Listen to Audio (9 min.)
My name is Paul Sax. I'm the clinical director of the HIV
program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and an
associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Today
I presented the results of the ACTG 5202 study comparing
tenofovir/FTC [tenofovir/emtricitabine, Truvada] and
abacavir/3TC [abacavir/lamivudine, Epzicom, Kivexa].1 It was a
comparison of those two drugs in patients with viral loads
greater than 100,000 copies/mL. Here are the basics of the
study.  It was a four-arm study. Over 1,800 patients were
randomized to one of four regimens: They either got abacavir/3TC
plus tenofovir/FTC placebo, or tenofovir/FTC plus abacavir/3TC
placebo. That was the nucleoside component. Then the third drug
was