Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART. The American National Institutes of Health and other organizations recommend offering antiretroviral treatment to all patients with AIDS. Because of the complexity of selecting and following a regimen, the severity of the side-effects and the importance of compliance to prevent viral resistance, such organizations emphasize the importance of involving patients in therapy choices, and recommend analyzing the risks and the potential benefits to patients with low viral loads.

There are different classes of antiretroviral drugs that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle.

Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs are broadly classified by the phase of the retrovirus life-cycle that the drug inhibits.

AV-HALTs (AntiViral HyperActivation Limiting Therapeutics or 'virostatics') combine immunomodulating and antiviral properties to inhibit a specific antiviral target while also limiting the hyper-elevated state of immune system activation driving disease progression.