China tests new HIV medication

‘‘Normally, the HIV virus invades the human body by fusing with the cell’s membrane,’’ said Gao Fu, Microbiology Research Institute chief of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, speaking yesterday at a meeting on new HIV/AIDS medication in Beijing.

‘‘So the key is to safeguard the ‘gate’ and prevent the occurrence of membrane fusion,’’ he was quoted as saying by China Daily.

The medication can target the HIV membrane fusion protein and prevent the virus from attacking cells. AIDS patients and those who are HIV positive will need to be injected everyday, Zhou said.

Zhou said he had been inspired by T20, the first drug in a new class of fusion inhibitors developed by an American company which was granted marketing approval by the US Food and Drug Administration in March 2003.

But, the Chinese medication, which has been registered as a new medicine with the state food and drug administration, employs a totally different molecular modelling.

And its price will be ‘‘significantly’’ lower than T20 which can cost $20,000 per patient per year, he said. The new medication is likely to hit the market at the end of next year, the report said.