HIV/AIDS Health Center
Table of Contents
Although there isn't currently a cure for HIV or AIDS, many medications are available to help control the virus. These medications are known as antiretrovirals. In an effort to prevent medication-resistant strains of HIV from forming, most doctors will opt for a combination of medications from different medicine classes.
Common multiclass medicines prescribed to combat HIV include Atripla (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir), Complera (emtricitabine/rilpivirine/tenofovir) and Stribild (elvitegravir/cobicistat/tenofovir/emtricitabine), which are all approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Most HIV/AIDS medications are designed to block the virus from multiplying or entering T-cells. They normally do this by disabling proteins essential to HIV's reproduction process.
Because HIV doesn't have a known cure, HIV treatments are typically lifelong commitments that involve taking many different pills at several points every day.