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Once-daily pill could simplify HIV¹ treatment

Myers Squibb and Gilead Sciences have combined many H.I.V. drugs into a single pill Sometimes the best medicine is more than one kind of medicine. Malaria, tuberculosis and H.I.V./AIDS,² for example, are all treated with ____1____ of drugs. But that can mean a lot of pills to take. It would be ____2____ if drug companies combined all the medicines into a single pill, taken just once a day.

Now, two companies say they have done that for people just ____3____ treatment for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The companies are Bristol-Myers Squibb and Gilead Sciences. They have ____4____ a single pill that combines three drugs currently on the market.³ Bristol-Myers Squibb sells one of them ____5____ the name of Sustiva.⁴ Gilead combined the ____6____, Emtriva and Viread, into a single pill in two thousand four.

Combining drugs involves more than ____7____ issues. It also involves issues of competition ____8____ the drugs are made by different companies. The new once-daily pill is the result of ____9____ is described as the first joint venture agreement of its kind in the treatment of H.I.V.

In January the New England Journal of Medicine⁵ published a study of the new pill. Researchers compared its ____10____ to⁶ that of the widely used combination of Sustiva and Combivir. Combivir ____11____ two drugs, AZT⁷ and 3TC.⁸ The researchers say that after one year of treatment, the new pill suppressed H.I.V. levels in more patients and with ____12____ side effects.⁹ Gilead paid for the study. Professor Joel Gallant at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, led the research. He is a paid adviser to Gilead and Bristol-Meyers Squibb as well as the maker of Combivir, GlaxoSmithKline.

Glaxo Smith Kline reacted ____13____ the findings by saying that a single study is of limited value. It says the effectiveness of Combivir has been shown in each of more than fifty studies.

The price of the new once-daily pill has not been announced. But Gilead and Bristol-Myers Squibb say they will provide it at reduced cost to developing countries. They plan in the next few months to ask the United States Food and Drug Administration¹⁰ to ____14____ the new pill.

There are limits to who could take it because of the different drugs it contains. For example, ____15____ women are told not to take Sustiva because of the risk of birth disorders.¹¹ Experts say more than forty million people around the world are living with H.I.V.

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pill n. Ò©Íè

simplify vt. ¼ò»¯

malaria n. ű¼²

tuberculosis n. ½áºË£¨²¡£©

virus n. ²¡¶¾

joint adj. ÁªºÏµÄ£¬¹²Í¬µÄ

venture n. ðÏÕ£¨ÊÂÒµ£©

suppress vt. ÒÖÖÆ

approve vt. Åú×¼

pregnant adj. ÈÑÉïµÄ£¬ÓÐÔеÄ

competition n. ¾ºÕù

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2.  AIDS ( acquired immunodeficiency syndrome )£º»ñµÃÐÔÃâÒßȱÏÝ×ÛºÏÕ÷£¬°¬×̲¡

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5.  New England Journal of Medicine£ºÐÂÓ¢¸ñÀ¼Ò½Ò©ÔÓÖ¾¡£New England ÊÇÃÀ¹ú¶«±±ÁùÖÝ( Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island ºÍ Connecticut )µÄ×ܳÆ¡£

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7.  AZT (Azidothymidine)£ºµþ°±ÐØÜÕ£¨ÄÜÒÖÖÆÒýÆð°¬×̲¡µÄÈËÃâÒßȱÏݲ¡¶¾£©

8.  3TC£ºÀ­·òÃ׶¨£¨Ò»ÖÖ°ûà×ऺËÜÕÑÜÉúÎÄÜÒÖÖÆÒҸβ¡¶¾ºÍÈËÃâÒßȱÏݲ¡¶¾µÄÄæת¼øµÄ»îÐÔ£¬¸ÄÉƸÎÔà×éÖ¯µÄ²¡±ä£©

9.  side effect£º¸±×÷ÓÃ

10.  United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)£ºÃÀ¹úʳƷÓëÒ©Æ·¹ÜÀí¾Ö

11.  birth disorder£ºÏÈÌìÐÔ¼²²¡