RIDGEFIELD, Conn. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals' single-pill antiretroviral for HIV-1 patients, BI said Tuesday.

The FDA approved Viramune XR (nevirapine), a single-pill, once-daily, extended-release formulation of nevirapine for use in combination with other antiretroviral drugs.

“With the approval of once-daily Viramune XR, patients in the [United States] now have the benefit of a new HIV treatment option for use in combination with their other HIV medications,” said Joseph Gathe, Baylor College of Medicine clinical instructor, who also served as the lead investigator of a study of the drug. “Physicians in the [United States] can now switch their current Viramune treatments to a once-daily product with demonstrated comparable safety and efficacy.”