Therapeutic approaches to treat human immunodeficiency virus infection: development of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors

There is a pressing need for new and improved drugs to combat the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Current drugs can be toxic and are being steadily rendered ineffective by mutation of the virus. The viral enzyme HIV integrase is an unexploited target for the development novel therapies. In a collaboration between Monash Univesity, Avexa Ltd and St Vincent's institute we will use fragment-based screening in combination with structural biology and computational chemistry to guide the synthesis of new chemical entities, which bind to and inhibit the activity of HIV-integrase.