"An entirely new type of anti-HIV drug is on course to be approved for use within the next six to nine months, after two clinical trials reported positive preliminary results.
The drug, T-20, hinders HIV in a different way from the 16 anti-HIV drugs that are already available.
Instead of targeting HIV within infected cells, T-20 is an "entry inhibitor" that works outside cells to prevent the virus from infecting them in the first place.
Many people who have taken existing treatments for some time have developed drug-resistant HIV that cannot be effectively controlled by today's drugs.

But because T-20 is a new type of drug, it still works against those drug-resistant HIV strains.
In the two studies, a drug cocktail that included T-20 was substantially more effective at reducing HIV levels in the body than one without T-20, among people who were treatment-experienced or resistant to current drugs.
However, like every anti-H IV drug, T-20 has its downsides. It's the first anti-HIV drug that cannot be taken as a tablet, but has to be injected under the skin twice a day.
But so far, that does not seem to have been a major deterrent to people whose HIV treatment options are running out.
For the best results T-20 must also be combined with other drugs to which HIV is still susceptible, otherwise it is only a matter of time before HIV becomes resistant to
T-20 as well.
Nevertheless, the successful development of T-20 is great news for HIV -positive people with few remaining treatment options."