Dr. Sharon Nachman Leads Network Involving NIH-Sponsored Study that Identifies Superior Drug Regimen for Preventing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission
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| Sharon Nachman, M.D. |
Stony Brook, NY – November 24, 2014 – The results of an international clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that taking a three-drug regimen during pregnancy prevents mother-to-child HIV transmission more effectively than taking a single drug during pregnancy, another during labor, and two more after giving birth.
“This study will help us to understand the safety and toxicity of these specific regimens in HIV positive pregnant women and their children,” said Dr. Nachman, Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Pediatrics at Stony Brook Medicine, and the Principal Investigator of the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) network, which conducts the PROMISE (Promoting Maternal Infant Survival Everywhere) Study. “As these women and children are followed, we will learn more about the long-term issues that may arise from these medications.”
The results of the PROMISE study confirm the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation to treat HIV positive pregnant women with the three-drug regimen to reduce worldwide incidence of mother-to-child-transmission of HIV.
PROMISE, which receives funding from the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, has enrolled more than 3,500 HIV-infected pregnant or post-partum women worldwide.
WHO will closely monitor further analysis and results of the ongoing PROMISE study, as well as evidence from other studies on antiretroviral drugs as they become available.
