New Drug to Treat Infants and Children with HIV Approved by FDA

A new drug called Tivicay has been approved by the FDA to treat children and infants at least four weeks old with HIV.

In clinical trial, 75 HIV–infected infants, children and adolescents 4 weeks to less than 18 years old were treated with Tivicay. After 48 weeks, 69% of those infected had an undetectable amount of virus remaining. Additionally, trial patients on average had higher levels of certain cells “that help the body fight off infection”.

Although the “incidence of pediatric HIV infections continues to decline”, in 2016, the FDA reports there were 2,238 children younger than 13 years old living with HIV in the United States.