Approval for the HIV drug Isentress (raltegravir) has been expanded to include children and adolescents ages 2-18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The drug is an integrase strand transfer inhibitor that helps slow the spread of the AIDS-causing virus throughout the body, the agency said in a news release. It was first approved for adults in October 2007. The twice-daily pill is available in a chewable form for people aged 2 to 11, and in non-chewable form. Clinical testing of the drug among 96 children and teens with HIV-1 infection showed 53 percent of patients had undetectable blood HIV levels after 24 weeks, the FDA said.
