Washington, April 5, 2007 -  The new AIDS drug Prezista is reported to have  performed excellently in halting the human immunodeficiency virus in people with advanced infection, as per a study published on Wednesday.

The success of the drug, made by the Johnson & Johnson <JNJ.N> unit Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd., comes at a time of acute need for new AIDS therapies because many existing drugs are failing as HIV mutates to thwart them, as per the report by Will Dunham, Reuters.

It is in a class of drugs called protease inhibitors that are designed suppress HIV and prevent it from replicating. The researchers said Prezista, also called darunavir, expands treatment options for patients who do not improve with other treatment.

It is given along with a low dose of an older protease inhibitor called ritonavir.

Prezista won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year, marking Johnson & Johnson's initial foray into the $1.5 billion U.S. market for protease inhibitors. It received conditional marketing approval in the European Union for all 27 member states last month.

Dr. Raj Baldev, Chairman, National Integration Assembly (NIA), has expressed hope that the new drug shall most certainly help in halting the human immunodeficiency virus in people with advanced infection.