Tipranavir: a protease inhibitor for multi-drug resistant HIV-1.

Since the mid-1990s, combination therapies to treat HIV-1 infection have greatly reduced morbidity and mortality from AIDS in developed countries with access to the medications. However, the development of viral resistance to available antiretrovirals is one of the many limitations to therapy that has emerged. Of the 24 licensed antiretroviral medications and medication combinations in the US, tipranavir is one of the few agents to specifically target highly treatment-experienced patients with multi-drug resistant HIV-1. It displays activity against the virus that is cross-resistant to other protease inhibitors. In this review, issues in treating multi-drug resistant HIV-1 and the potential clinical utility of tipranavir in the US will be discussed.