Background:

Atazanavir sulfate (BMS-232632-05) is the sulfate salt form of atazanavir, a potent protease inhibitor (IP) for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) infection, which prevents the formation of mature HIV virions through the selective inhibition of the virus-specific processing of viral gag and gag-pol polyproteins in infected cells. Although it shows strong anti-HIV-1 activity with MIC₅₀ranging from 2 to 5 nM, atazanavir has lower antiviral activity against HIV-2 isolates. Atazanavir, which is metabolized by the hepatic cytochrome P450 (CYP) system resulting in two main inactive metabolites, is also an inhibitor of CYP3A4 isoenzyme and P-glycoprotein ATP-dependent efflux pump.

Reference

[1].Robin Wood. Atazanavir: its role in HIV treatment. Expert Rev Snti Infect Ther 2008; 6(6): 785-796