TDM: the key to more effective HIV treatment?

At the 5th International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection, held in Glasgow, Scotland, October 22-26, 2000, the increasingly important role of the clinical pharmacologist was underlined. Now that complicated combination therapy regimens are routine in HIV treatment, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is increasingly necessary to monitor drug levels in blood, potential drug interactions, changes in bioavailability and patient nonadherence. Most of the congress was devoted to the presentation of the latest clinical data on the major drugs and their most important combinations used for HAART, including data on trials with nelfinavir, indinavir, BMS-232632, ritonavir, nevirapine, lamivudine/zidovudine and lopinavir/ritonavir, as well as with dronabinol. The sense of optimism triggered by the advent of HAART in the last few years continues to grow, and this will clearly be encouraged by more efficient approaches to treatment such as the advent of TDM.