Valganciclovir in Patients With CMV Retinitis and AIDS Who Cannot Take Drugs by Injection

The purpose of this study is to make valganciclovir available, before it is approved for marketing, to HIV-infected patients who have cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis (eye infection) and cannot take drugs by injection. This study also will look at the safety of using valganciclovir as starting and/or ongoing therapy. CMV can cause serious AIDS-related infections in patients with HIV. Drugs that are effective against CMV eye infections can be given only by injection; this calls for a thin tube to be placed into a vein in the chest so that the patient is not put through getting too many needle sticks. An experimental drug, valganciclovir, is similar to 1 of these approved drugs, ganciclovir, but is more convenient and easier to use since it can be taken by mouth. Once in the body, valganciclovir changes to ganciclovir. Studies have shown that valganciclovir tablets can result in the same level of ganciclovir in the blood as ganciclovir injection.