A new HIV drug has become available on the NHS which could transform the way the virus is treated in the UK.

For the past ten years, Dr Mannos Perros and his Pfizer team have been working on a new way to treat HIV. Their new drug, Maraviroc, is the first new oral class of HIV medicine for more than a decade.

There is no cure for HIV Aids and existing treatments work to suppress it and keep it at bay. Maraviroc is also a suppressant, but works in a different way.

Unlike other drugs, which fight HIV inside infected cells, Maraviroc works by stopping the virus from entering the cells in the first place.

It binds to specific receptors which allow the virus a doorway into cells and then works to blocks it and prevent infection within the cell.

If HIV cannot enter an immune cell, it cannot infect it and therefore is unable to replicate.

The virus is known to mutate aggressively and many patients become immune to existing drugs, so this new class of treatment is fundamental to their continued good health and ultimately, their ability to lead a normal life.

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