Stone to Silicon

Health & biology · 1987

AZT, first HIV drug

Zidovudine became the first approved treatment for HIV, just four years after the virus was identified.

HIV was identified in 1983; the FDA approved AZT in March 1987. Alone it offered limited benefit, but it proved antiretrovirals could slow the virus.

See it in the living treeWikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 1

What it led to 1

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Life expectancy at birth Latest: 73.2 years (2023) Source: Our World in Data