A 3in1pill that combines three drugs used to treat HIV received federal approval Wednesday, giving U.S. patients the first triple "cocktail" therapy that can be swallowed as a single dose.

The 3in1 pill, called Atripla, combines three Food and Drug Administration-approved AIDS drugs that already form one of the most widely prescribed AIDS "cocktails."

3 in 1 pill Atripla can replace the two or more pills HIV-positive patients now must take each day to keep the human immunodeficiency virus in check, as well as eliminate the need for multiple co-payments when the drugs are purchased separately.

That should simplify the treatment of HIV and AIDS and in turn could slow the emergence — and ultimately, transmission — of drug-resistant strains of the virus. Those strains can evolve when patients skip pills.

“It is a major, major breakthrough for all people living with HIV and AIDS,” said Frank Oldham Jr., executive director of the National Association of People with AIDS. Oldham cautioned that AIDS patients often still must take multiple other drugs to fend off infections and other complications of their weakened immune systems. Some patients also will take Atripla with a fourth drug to combat HIV.