New drug treatments for HIV infection and AIDS. A review following the Seventh International Conference on AIDS, Florence 16-21 June 1991.

1. OBJECTIVE--To evaluate the status of clinical development of zidovudine and new drugs for the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections. 2. METHOD--A critical review of the clinical trial reports and assessment of the design and methodology of the therapeutic trials. Evaluation of the drugs being tested and of the specific difficulties in testing drugs in AIDS. 3. CONCLUSIONS--Drugs are being tested in a unique climate of public opinion characterised by (1) fast track criteria for regulatory approval (2) parallel track (compassionate release) of new drugs before adequate determination of safety and efficacy (3) resistance to the use of placebos in controlled trials.