{"id":8362,"date":"2017-04-16T12:16:48","date_gmt":"2017-04-16T16:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/hiv-id-observations\/?p=8362"},"modified":"2017-05-17T11:13:01","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T15:13:01","slug":"mark-wainberg-enduring-importance-3tc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/hiv-id-observations\/index.php\/mark-wainberg-enduring-importance-3tc\/2017\/04\/16\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Wainberg and the Enduring Importance of 3TC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last week, the HIV\/ID research world lost one of its leaders and pioneers when Dr. Mark Wainberg unexpectedly died.<\/a> An astute, thoughtful virologist — and a warm, engaging\u00a0person — he\u00a0led the HIV research program at McGill University in Montreal for years, contributing to the field both through his research and patient advocacy. A strong voice in the effort\u00a0to expand HIV therapy to Africa in the early 2000s, Mark was also a vocal critic of HIV denialism.<\/p>\n

If I had to single out one\u00a0notable achievement, however, it would be this:<\/p>\n

Then, in 1989, after studying the properties of a new antiviral drug called 3TC, or lamivudine, Dr. Wainberg found that it was effective against H.I.V. It soon became an important part of the so-called AIDS cocktail of drugs that is still used to treat infected patients.<\/em><\/p>\n

This, of course,\u00a0just\u00a0hints at the critical role this drug has had in\u00a0the success of\u00a0HIV treatment. 3TC is the long-term superstar of the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI)\u00a0class, a characteristic it shares with the similar (and somewhat more potent) emtricitabine, or FTC.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the highlights:<\/p>\n