Definition
ChEBI: Kaletra is a mixture containing lopinavir and ritonavir. It is a prescription medicine that is used with other antiretroviral medicines to treat Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1) infection in adults and children 14 days of age and older. It has a role as an antiviral drug, a HIV protease inhibitor and an anticoronaviral agent. It contains a lopinavir and a ritonavir.
Clinical Use
Recently, the U.S. FDA has approved the release of lopinavir/ritonavir combination in patients who have
not responded to other regimens for treatment of HIV. The product is available in a soft-gelatin capsule
containing 133.3 mg of lopinavir and 33.3 mg of ritonavir as well as in oral solutions containing 80 mg/mL
of lopinavir and 20 mg/mL of ritonavir. The small amount of ritonavir is not expected to have antiretroviral
activity; rather, the ritonavir is meant to increase the plasma concentrations of lopinavir by inhibiting
lopinavir's metabolism by CYP3A4 (ritonavir acts as a booster). These drugs, in combination with other
antiretroviral agents, have been approved for use in adults as well as in patients between the ages of 6
months and 12 years. This is the first PI to be indicated for the very young.
