New Drug for AIDS?

THE CONTINUING RAVAGES OF AIDS HAVE FORCED the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to further streamline drug-approval procedures. Last week a panel of experts recommended that the government agency give its conditional blessing to dideoxycytidine, or DDC. Although preliminary studies indicate that this antiviral medication may not work as well as AZT which still ranks as the premier AIDS treatment, the combination of drugs seems to rejuvenate some of the immune cells that are normally destroyed during the course of the disease.

If the FDA approves DDC the manufacturer, Hoffmann-La Roche, will be required to submit further studies on the drug’s safety and efficacy.