Recent advancements in HIV treatment have brought the advent of drugs, designed to combat the HIV virus at various points in it’s life cycle. Targeting such areas of viral maturation as protease activity and inhibition of reverse transcriptase and integrase appear to be the major focal points of HIV research. Popular medications such as nucleoside analogs, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, and combination treatments of these drugs are prolonging the lives of individuals infected with HIV.

The most widely researched HIV drug by pharmaceutical companies has been the protease inhibitors. These drugs have shown to increase the CD4 count while reducing the level of the HIV viral load in infected individuals. Such protease inhibitors are saquinavir invirase produced by Hoffman-LaRoche, crixivan by Merck, ritonavir made by Abbot, and nelfinavir mesylate manufactured by Agouron have been the most widely used protease inhibitors on the market

Nucleoside analogs were used as the first class of antiretroviral medications. Initially, nucleoside analogs were used only as a monotherapy without conjunctive use with other nucleoside analogs. New treatments are focusing around the use of nucleoside analogs such as AZT, ddI, ddC, and 3TC as combination therapies. AZT, the most popular treatment for AIDS since 1986, has shown to dramatically increase the CD4 cell count, prolonging the lives of patients to a greater extent

Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors have been shown to work better in a combinitorial fashion with nucleoside analogs and other non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors than in monotherapy. A popular non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, viramune when used in conjunction with the nucleoside analog ddI has shown an increase in CD4 counts. A major drawback of viramune use is its reduction in the bioavailability of protease inhibitors. Another effective non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, delavirdine also when used in combinitorial treatments with ddI have shown an increase in CD4 cell counts. Combinitorial treatments of delvirdine and ddI are found to increase in the bioavailability of the protease inhibitors saquinavir and indinavir, while being considered more effective than viramune.