The quick answer is: no. Sorry. There is no currently available single pill that combines all the HIV medications someone might need into one pill that can be taken once a day. Wish there were. Here's a more long-winded answer. What you probably saw was an ad for a fixed-dose combination pill that combines two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs, or "nukes") into one pill, using the doses at which each is most often prescribed. Since you told me that you are currently taking Kaletra and Combivir, you're actually already using a fixed-dose combination (Combivir, which is AZT and 3TC) twice a day to reduce the number of pills you would have to take if you took AZT and 3TC separately. But two NRTIs, such as Combivir, need to be combined with a third drug, usually a protease inhibitor (PI) or a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), in order to treat HIV effectively. Some HIV medications need to be taken twice a day, while others can be taken once a day. Combining two different medications into one pill can cut down on the total number of pills you have to take, and that can make it easier to take your meds. Right now (July 2005), there are two NRTI combination pills that can be taken once a day on the market in the U.S. One is called Truvada, and is a combination of tenofovir and FTC, and the other one is called Epzicom, and is a combination of 3TC and abacavir. (Each of these drugs has other names, too, but they are best known by the names I've used here.) There are also two other combination pills on the market that are taken twice a day: Combivir (which, again, is AZT plus 3TC), and Trizivir (AZT plus 3TC plus abacavir). The bottom line is that you can use these fixed-dose combinations to reduce the number of pills you take each day, but they still need to be combined with a third drug to be effective. In the not-so-distant future, there may be one single pill -- a combination of efavirenz, tenofovir, and FTC -- that can be taken once daily. These drugs are manufactured by two different companies, so both companies must work out legal and other considerations before the drug can be marketed.
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