First-line Highly Active Antiretroviral Regimens in 2001–2002 in the French Hospital Database on HIV: Combination Prescribed and Biological Outcomes

Introduction We compared biological outcomes in anti-retroviral-naive patients with viral load (VL) >5,000 copies/ml starting combivir-based, three-drug highly active antiretroviral therapy regimens in 2001–2002 according to the third component, namely abacavir (ABC), nelfinavir (NFV), indinavir/ritonavir (IDV/r), lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r), nevirapine (NVP) or efavirenz (EFV). Methods We evaluated virological response (HIV RNA + T-cells/u, l) separately in patients with baseline VL Results Median follow up was 19 months. EFV had better virological efficacy than NFV and IDV/r among patients with baseline VL Conclusions For first-line therapy, in this observational setting, EFV, LPV/r and NVP, when added to the combivir backbone, were more likely to drive viral load