A group of drugs that share common properties, which may include a similar mechanism of action, chemical structure, or approved use. Antiretroviral (ARV) HIV drugs are classified into six drug classes on the basis of how each drug interferes with the HIV life cycle. These six classes include the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), protease inhibitors (PIs), fusion inhibitors, CCR5 antagonists, and integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs).
See Related Term(s): CCR5 Antagonist, Fusion Inhibitor, Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitor, Life Cycle, Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor, Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor, Protease Inhibitor