Bristol-Myers Squibb and Gilead
Sciences have combined many HIV drugs into a single pill. Sometimes the best
medicine is more than one kind of medicine. Malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS,
{{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}, are all treated with combinations
of drugs. But that can mean a lot of pill to take. It would be {{U}}
{{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}drug companies combined all the medicines into
a single pill, taken just once a day. Now, two companies say
they have done that for people just {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}}
{{/U}}treatment for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The companies are
Bristol-Myers Squibb and Gilead Science. They have {{U}} {{U}} 4
{{/U}} {{/U}}a single pill that combines three drugs currently on the market.
Bristol-Myers Squibb sells one of them {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}}
{{/U}}the name of Sustiva. Gilead combined the {{U}} {{U}} 6
{{/U}} {{/U}}, Emtriva and Viread, into a single pill in two thousand
four. Combining drugs involves more than {{U}} {{U}}
7 {{/U}} {{/U}}issues. It also involves issues of competition {{U}}
{{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}the drugs are made by different companies. The
new once-daily pill is the result of {{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}}
{{/U}}is described as the first joint venture agreement of its kind in the
treatment of HIV. In January the New England Journal of Medicine published a
study of the new pill. Researcher compared its {{U}} {{U}} 10
{{/U}} {{/U}}to that of the widely used combination of Sustiva and Combivir.
Combivir {{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}two drugs, AZT and 3TC. The
researchers say that after one year of treatment, the new pill suppressed HIV
levels in more patients and with fewer {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}}
{{/U}}effects. Gilead paid for the study. Professor Joel Gallant at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, led the research. He is a
paid adviser to Gilead and Bristol-Meyers Squibb as well as the maker of
Combivir, Glaxo Smith Kline. Glaxo Smith Kline reacted
{{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}} {{/U}}the findings by saying that a single
study is of limited value. It says the effectiveness of Combivir has been shown
in each of more than fifty studies. The price of the new once-daily pill has not
been announced. But Gilead and Bristol-Myers Squibb say they will provide it at
reduced cost to developing countries. They plan in the next few months to ask
the United States Food and Drug Administration to approve the new
pill. There are limits to who could take it {{U}} {{U}}
14 {{/U}} {{/U}}the different drugs it contains. For example, {{U}}
{{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}women are told not to take Sustiva because of
the risk of birth disorders. Experts say more than forty million people around
the world are living with HIV.
【答案解析】[解析] 前一句提到“But that can mean a lot of pill to take”，因为很多疾病都是用多种药物来治疗的，故要服很多药。四个选项A项simpler意为“更简单的，更朴素的”；B项more complex意为“更复杂的”；C项more meaningless意为“更无意义的”；D项more troublesome意为“更讨厌的，更麻烦的”，由句意可知只有A项合适。故本题选A。