What Drugs were given to patients on DART?
As first-line treatment, all patients received a triple combination of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Patients were prescribed zidovudine (ZDV) and lamivudine (3TC) in combination (Combivir) as the backbone of their treatment. For their third drug, 2,469 patients received tenofovir (TDF) and 247 patients received nevirapine (NVP). In addition, 600 patients were co-enrolled with additional, separate consent to a double blind 24-week comparison of the safety of abacavir (ABC) versus nevirapine (NVP) as the third drug for first-line therapy. These patients continued to receive ABC or NVP, respectively, after the blinded period finished. For intolerance or toxicity of any individual drug, another ART drug from the same class was substituted.
