Types of antiretroviral drugs

There are four main antiretroviral drug classes currently used to construct first-line treatment regimens; not all licensed drugs are recommended for use at this time and those that are counter-indicated for initial therapy are not included in this list.

  • Nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs/NtRTIs), also called nucleoside or nucleotide analogues:
    • 3TC (lamivudine, Epivir)
    • abacavir (Ziagen)
    • AZT (zidovudine, Retrovir)
    • ddI (didanosine, Videx / VidexEC)
    • emtricitabine (Emtriva)
    • tenofovir (Viread), the sole NtRTI
  • Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs):
    • efavirenz (Sustiva / Stocrin)
    • nevirapine (Viramune)
  • Protease inhibitors (PIs):
    • atazanavir (Reyataz)
    • darunavir (Prezista)
    • fosamprenavir (Telzir / Lexiva)
    • lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra)
    • ritonavir (Norvir), used as a boosting agent
    • saquinavir (Invirase)
  • Integrase inhibitors:
    • raltegravir (Isentress)

For an overview of these drug classes and how they work, see Ways of attacking HIV. The section also includes information on licensed and investigational drugs in each class. For information about specific drugs, see A to Z of antiretroviral drugs. For further information about all antiretroviral drugs licensed in the European Union, see NAM's drug chart.

This content was checked for accuracy at the time it was written. It may have been superseded by more recent developments. NAM recommends checking whether this is the most current information when making decisions that may affect your health.