As a result, some physicians are reporting that forty percent or more of their patients long infected with HIV are now failing combination therapy that includes protease inhibitors. If new drug combinations are not made available to fully suppress HIV in these people, AIDS will progress in them and they will remain at risk for illness and death. However, the drug's manufacturer, GlaxoWellcome, has failed to develop the drug rapidly and has been less willing than drug companies have in the past to make the drug available before F.D.A. approval to people who need it. AIDS activists, working with the company for more than a year, feel stonewalled and have therefore taken the unusual step of calling for a boycott of products the company makes where substitutions are available. As more people learn of Glaxo's unwillingness to assist those most at risk of quickly dying from HIV despite treatment, the boycott has grown and now includes influential medical groups such as the California Nurses Association.
Generic acyclovir is already available.
In the case of ranitidine, a generic will soon be available and there are a number of alternative anti-ulcer drugs whose effect is equivalent to ranitidine. Doctors are also being asked to let GlaxoWellcome sales representatives know that they are unhappy with Glaxo's delay in developing 1592 and in the limited plans for expanded access to the drug prior to approval. It has been under development for many years and has been in clinical trials since 1995. Initial data indicates that it is reasonably safe and is sometimes effective in patients who have failed most other anti-HIV therapy. After much delay, GlaxoWellcome has offered a compassionate use program to supply 1592 to 2,500 people in North America, Europe and Australia.