Kaletra clears lesions in patients with HPV - AbbVie

According to a study of 40 women with pre-cancerous lesions caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), Kaletra (lopinavir and ritonavir), from AbbVie, cleared pre-cancerous cervical lesions from 90 percent of patients treated. The study looked at 40 women with both high and low-grade pre-cancerous disease of the cervix and the antiviral drug, normally used orally to treat HIV, was self-applied directly to the cervix as a pessary.

Repeat cervical smears showed a marked improvement within one month of the treatment although after three months, there was a definite response. Out of 23 women initially diagnosed with high-grade disease, 19 (82.6%) had returned to normal and two now had low-grade disease giving an overall positive response in 91.2% of those treated. Furthermore the 17 women initially diagnosed with borderline or low-grade disease also showed similar improvement.

In this study, the researchers used a generic version of Kaletra made by Mumbai-based Cipla. The findings build on previous peer-reviewed laboratory based research and will be submitted to a journal soon.