Arpan Acharya, Salil Vaniawala, Harsh Parekh, Rabindra Nath Misra, Minal Wani and Pratap N Mukhopadhyaya
Since year 1983 when Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was first discovered, there has been a spectacular progress in understanding the complex biology of the virus. Drug discovery accepted the challenge to stem spread of pathogenic virus that was characterized by unparalleled ability to alter, survive and kill humans. The genetic diversity of this virus, attributed to an extraordinary rate of mutation of the genome, is now the center of most of the scientific hurdles met towards its prevention and control. While the disease caused by HIV was staged by the medical community, a range of drugs were almost simultaneously discovered to address it. This was followed by the challenge of managing the menace of HIV drug resistance. The unique mechanism of host invasion and reduction in immune strength of the victim opened an additional area of concern by way of secondary infection which is now the prominent immediate cause of death of patients. In this review we take a panoramic view of this entire scenario and discuss the need for private sector to contribute to research and development in order to keep pace with the complexity of the virus and bring about a sustained solution to the alarming disease caused by it.