Capravirine, a nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor in patients infected with HIV-1: a phase 1 study.

Capravirine is a nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) with a unique resistance profile. Although single mutations allow resistance to established NNRTIs, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 must undergo multiple mutations to achieve resistance to capravirine. In the present phase 1 study, capravirine was administered orally for up to 28 days to 55 HIV-1-infected individuals with CD4+ T lymphocyte counts of 50-500 cells/microL. The most frequent adverse events were diarrhea (5%) and nausea (4%), with no drug-related rashes observed. The day 15 median (mean) HIV-1 load decreased by 1.34 (1.45) log(10) copies/mL in the patients receiving 25 mg/kg/day. Capravirine demonstrated potent antiviral activity, even in antiretroviral-experienced patients.