Saquinavir was developed by the pharmaceutical company Roche.
Saquinavir was the sixth antiretroviral and the first protease inhibitor approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), leading ritonavir to approval by 4 months.
As a result of the introduction of new "highly active antiretroviral thearap[ies]"—of which the protease inhibitors saquinavir and ritonavir were critical—the annual U.S. HIV-associated death rate fell from over 50,000 to about 18,000 over a period of two years.

Roche requested and received approval of Invirase via the FDA's "Accelerated Approval" program—a process designed to speed drugs to market for the treatment of serious diseases—a decision that was controversial, as AIDS activists disagreed over the benefits of thorough testing versus early access to new drugs.
It was approved again on November 7, 1997, as Fortovase, a soft gel capsule reformulated for improved bioavailability.
Roche announced in May 2005 that, given reduced demand, Fortovase would cease being marketed early in 2006, in favor of Invirase boosted with ritonavir, owing to the ability of the latter co-formulated drug to inhibit the enzyme that metabolizes the AIDS drugs.
Saquinavir was developed by the pharmaceutical company Roche. Saquinavir was the sixth antiretroviral and the first protease inhibitor approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), leading ritonavir to approval by 4 months. As a result of the introduction of new "highly active antiretroviral thearap[ies]"—of which the protease inhibitors saquinavir and ritonavir were critical—the annual U.S. HIV-associated death rate fell from over 50,000 to about 18,000 over a period of two years.
Roche requested and received approval of Invirase via the FDA's "Accelerated Approval" program—a process designed to speed drugs to market for the treatment of serious diseases—a decision that was controversial, as AIDS activists disagreed over the benefits of thorough testing versus early access to new drugs. It was approved again on November 7, 1997, as Fortovase, a soft gel capsule reformulated for improved bioavailability. Roche announced in May 2005 that, given reduced demand, Fortovase would cease being marketed early in 2006, in favor of Invirase boosted with ritonavir, owing to the ability of the latter co-formulated drug to inhibit the enzyme that metabolizes the AIDS drugs.
Saquinavir