ABSTRACT
Despite advances in the treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia remains a leading cause of opportunistic infection and mortality in HIV patients. Currently available anti-Pneumocystis drugs are limited by significant problems of efficacy, toxicity, and emerging resistance [1-4]. Drug development has been limited by the lack of a reliable and reproducible in vitro cultivation system. In addition, pharmaceutical companies have demonstrated little interest in devoting resources to developing new treatments for Pneumocystis and other opportunistic pathogens because of the limited market for these agents. To fill this void, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) established contracts with Pneumocystis investigators who have expertise in drug development to discover new anti-Pneumocystis compounds and to test agents synthesized by other researchers. The ultimate goal has been to develop new agents or the new use of already licensed drugs for clinical trials for the treatment and prevention of Pneumocystis pneumonia.
