Abacavir

Abacavir, sold under the brand name Ziagen among others, is a medication used to treat HIV/AIDS. Like other nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitors, it is used together with other HIV medications and is not recommended alone. It is taken by mouth as a tablet or solution and may be used in children over the age of three months. It is generally well tolerated, with common side effects of vomiting, insomnia, fever and tiredness, but more severe effects include hypersensitivity, liver damage and lactic acidosis. Genetic testing can show whether a person is at higher risk of the hypersensitivity reaction. It works by blocking reverse transcriptase, an enzyme the virus needs to replicate, and within its class it is a carbocyclic nucleoside. It was patented in 1988, approved in the United States in 1998 and is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.