Safety, tolerance, and efficacy of atevirdine in asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals.

Atevirdine is a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). In this study we investigated the effect of atevirdine in asymptomatic antiretroviral naive HIV-infected patients with CD4+ cell counts of between 200 and 750 cells per mm3. Patients were randomized to receive 600 mg of atevirdine (n = 15) or a placebo (n = 15) three times a day for 12 weeks. There was no statistically significant effect of atevirdine on viral loads (HIV p24 antigen and HIV-1 RNA levels by PCR) or CD4+ cell counts. The data do not support the use of atevirdine as a monotherapy in the treatment of HIV-infected patients.