Vertibrae's, a network of online medical education communities, HIVresistanceWeb website has published the "HIV Drug & Mutation Reference Guide," which is now available for free download onto Palm OS devices.

The "HIV Drug & Mutation Reference Guide" PDA application represents the handheld digital version of HIVresistanceWeb's Drug & Mutation Data Web pages, which the company said provides at-a-glance and in-depth drug- and mutation-specific information, and provide extensive references and links to research databases. Specifically, the Stanford HIV RT and Protease Sequence Database, which is directed by HIVresistanceWeb Editorial Board member Robert W. Shafer, M.D. Designations and explanations of specific drug/mutation relationships are determined by consensus of the HIVresistanceWeb Editorial Board and are based on review of the literature.

Version 2 of HIVresistanceWeb's "HIV Drug & Mutation Reference Guide" Palm OS software - and also a first-issue PocketPC version - will incorporate new findings presented at the XI International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop in Seville and at the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona. Updated HIVresistanceWeb PDA software will be available for free download in September 2002.

A printed reference guide, entitled "HIV Drug Resistance Information At a Glance" is also published by Vertibrae for HIVresistanceWeb. Approximately 40,000 copies of the reference guide will be distributed prior to and during the 42nd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) is San Diego this September.