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AIDS cocktail gives hope
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July 15, 1997: 3:45 p.m. ET
New drug combinations help patients, pharmaceutical companies, investors
From Correspondent Bill Tucker
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The state-of-the-art treatment for HIV and AIDS is a combination of drugs known as the "AIDS cocktail". One key ingredient is a relatively new type of drug called a protease inhibitor, which prevents the virus from reproducing. These drugs are not only helping HIV patients, but they're also giving the companies that make them -- and their investors -- a lift.
An AIDS drug cocktail is one stiff belt, consisting of dozens of pills a day, with numbing and nauseating side effects. There are no guarantees, but thanks to the protease inhibitors the coctail can boast a staggering record of success.
"These drugs are having a tremendous impact, an impact that I don't think we've ever seen with any other disease where you're talking about so many people getting better," says Dr. Howard Grossman, an HIV physician.
Grossman and other AIDS specialists report that protease inhibitors help cut HIV to undetectable levels in a majority of those who can tolerate the drugs.
Currently, less than one percent of the estimated 20 million people in the world with HIV are taking protease inhibitors, and boosting that will depend largely on who has the means or insurance to pick up a yearly cocktail tab close to $20,000 per patient.
In just 18 months protease inhibitors have become a $1 billion-a-year business.
"This market is certainly still a very dynamic one. It is still relatively new, which means it's got all the opportunity in the world to just grow even more dramatically over time," says Biotech Analyst Elise Wang of PaineWebber.
Companies that produce protease inhibitors are drug goliaths Abbott Laboratories, Roche, and Merck, which commands half the market with its Crixovan. Since April, a biotech upstart named Agouron Pharmaceuticals has captured nearly a 20 percent market share with Viracept.
The stocks of all four companies are up strongly in the past year, with Agouron's doubling. Still, despite the early success of protease inhibitors, there is concern that marketing hype could overshadow solid science.
"We need a greater commitment from the drug industry to really put their resources into educating patients, not just slick ads," says Derek Link, director of federal affairs for Gay Men's Health Crisis.
With AIDS cocktails making HIV look more like a chronic condition than a fatal disease, the outlook for the protease inhibitor market remains strong. That is, until a better treatment or a cure is found. 
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Abbott
Merck
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Agouron
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