Archived HIV News
Chinese Company Develops New Drug to
Fight HIV/AIDS
Agence France Presse (07.11.05) - Monday,
July 11, 2005
CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update
A Chinese pharmaceutical maker has developed a new HIV drug
that aims to block the virus from entering cells, the China
Daily reported today. FusoGen
Pharmaceuticals is currently testing the drug, a fusion
inhibitor, in clinical trials. Zhou Genfa, FusoGen's
chairperson, said the drug is modeled after the US-developed
Fuzeon - the first drug in a new class of fusion inhibitors -
but employs a different molecular modeling. The drug, which has
been registered as a new medicine with China's State Food and
Drug Administration, will likely hit the market at the end of
next year and will be priced "significantly" lower than Fuzeon,
which can cost $20,000 per patient per year, said Zhou. |
Italian AIDS Vaccine Passes First Phase of
Tests
Associated Press (07.05.05) - Monday, July
11, 2005
CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update
On July 5, researchers at Italy's National Health Institute
issued a statement saying recently completed Phase I trials of
an AIDS vaccine found it was safe and capable of stimulating the
immune systems of the people tested.
The vaccine targets TAT, a
protein that allows HIV to multiply, which constitutes a
different approach from other AIDS vaccines. Other vaccines have
targeted proteins external to HIV in an effort to produce
antibodies to block the virus from entering the cells, according
to the research team's statement.
The tests were carried out in clinics in Rome and Milan from
Nov. 2003 to Nov. 2004, and involved 27 HIV-positive volunteers
and 20 HIV-negative people. Each volunteer received five
vaccinations over five months.
The Institute said it is looking for ?50 million (US$59.41
million) to fund the second round of trials. The trials would be
conducted in Italy and Africa on a much larger group of people.
Barbara Ensoli, leader of the research team, said they hoped to
have final results by 2010. |
Health Advocates: Medicaid Change Could Hurt
HIV/AIDS Patients
Emily Wagster Pettus
Associated Press (06.30.05) - Friday, July
01, 2005
CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update
Starting Friday, Mississippi's new restrictions go into
effect on the number of prescription drugs Medicaid patients can
receive, potentially jeopardizing HIV/AIDS patients' health and
creating the possibility of drug resistance, say AIDS advocates.
To save money, state
legislators voted to restrict Medicaid clients to five
prescriptions a month - no more than two name-brand. However,
most antiretroviral drugs are name-brand, and many HIV/AIDS
patients take a cocktail of three brand-name drugs. Previously,
program patients could receive five prescriptions without
question - and two more with permission - generic or brand-name.
"Without their medication, it really is a question of life or
death," said Shannan Reaze, who is with the recently created
AIDS Action in Mississippi (AAIM). On their own, patients buying
the medication could pay $300-$600 a month - an obstacle for
low-income people on Medicaid.
Medicaid spokesperson Francis Rullan was not working
Thursday, and an employee in the program's legal division said
no one else was available to answer questions about the drug
policies. Medicaid covers about 780,000 Mississippians, or
approximately one in four state residents.
Some HIV/AIDS patients have had difficulty getting their
questions answered by program officials, said Robin Webb, who is
also with AAIM. "There's a level of trust that's broken down,"
said Webb.
Sen. Terry Burton (R-Newton) said Thursday that he had spoken
with drug firms that said they were in negotiations with
Medicaid officials to provide HIV/AIDS patients treatment. But
he did not have details of any arrangements.
On June 13, the national doctors' HIV Medicine Association
sent Gov. Haley Barbour a letter expressing concern about how
Medicaid prescription limits will affect HIV/AIDS patients. |
AIDS Activists Fear Clinic's New Site Will
Create Hurdles
David Olinger
Denver Post (06.26.05) - Friday, July 01,
2005
CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update
AIDS activists fear that an upcoming move of the CU Health
Sciences Center, a University of Colorado clinic in Denver, to
the Fitzsimons campus in Aurora, will hinder the clinic's
mission. The clinic treats about
1,200 HIV/AIDS patients, offering a one- stop resource for
medicine, physical checkups, counseling, and participation in
new AIDS therapies. A decade ago, one-seventh of the clinic's
clients died within a year. Last year, less than one in 50 died.
Activists blame the move for the departures of Dr. Robert
"Chip" Schooley and his wife, Dr. Constance Benson, who built
the Denver program and led a national AIDS clinical trial group.
Also, they worry that some patients who live in Denver will miss
appointments for medicines crucial to their survival.
"It's going to be a big barrier for a lot of people," said
John Jaruzel, leader of a community advisory board to the AIDS
program.
However, center Director Dr. Steven Johnson said he is
optimistic that the clinic's progress of the last decade will
continue. He pointed out that at Fitzsimons, patients will gain
a neighboring pediatric hospital, a new clinic, and more space
and privacy, including private hospital rooms. "We're recruiting
new physicians. Our plan is to continue being leaders in this
area," said Johnson. |
Anti-AIDS Gel Expected in 3 to 4 Years
Erica Bulman
Associated Press (04.14.05) - Friday, April
15, 2005
CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update
A microbicide gel that protects women from HIV
during intercourse could reach market in three to four years,
UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot predicted Thursday. Piot
said a gel that gives women the power to prevent transmission
would be the next best thing to a successful HIV/AIDS vaccine,
which has not yet been developed. "Conceptually, it's
straightforward, whereas with the vaccine we still don't know
where to go," he said.
The microbicide, which Piot likened to a contraceptive
spermicide, would be in the form of a gel or an ovule that would
placed in the vagina prior to intercourse and would immediately
kill HIV upon contact. About 15 microbicide products are being
tested worldwide. "We are, in the most optimistic scenario, I
would say three years, four years away. Currently we are dealing
with trials that deal with thousands and thousands of women,"
Piot said.
For more than 20 years, researchers have been working to
develop an HIV vaccine. To date, just one vaccine candidate has
undergone a large-scale clinical trial, only to show
disappointing results. Two other candidates are now in human
trials in Thailand and the United States, Piot added. "We don't
even know. what are the elements in the immune response that
protect us, what kind of antibodies should we try to stimulate,"
he said.
"Over half of all new [HIV] infections today occur in women,"
Piot said. Women must rely on whether their male partner is
faithful or uses condoms, and abstinence is often not an option
in marriage. In addition, negotiating condom use within any
relationship in any culture is difficult, he noted.
"Because of this increasing feminization of the epidemic we
need ways to protect women and ways that are under the control
of women, preferable one a male partner wouldn't even know the
woman is using," Piot explained. |
House Gives Final Approval to Funding for
AIDS Medications
Bob Johnson
Associated Press (04.14.05) - Friday, April
15, 2005
CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update
On Thursday, the Alabama House voted 92-0 for a bill to
provide a $1 million supplemental appropriation for the state
AIDS Drug Assistance Program. On
Wednesday, the Senate had briefly interrupted a three-week
filibuster over a financial disclosure bill to pass the
legislation; it added $1.2 million to provide merit pay
increases for prison system employees. Gov. Bob Riley signed the
bill Thursday afternoon - one day before the deadline by which
the state Health Department would have had to cut 200 people
from the program.
Rep. Laura Hall (D-Huntsville) praised the legislators for
putting aside their differences long enough to pass the measure.
She expressed disappointment, however, with remarks by Sen. Hank
Erwin (R-Montevallo), who said the AIDS drugs should come with a
warning that patients should pursue a more responsible
lifestyle. Erwin said he had not intended his remarks as
criticism of people with AIDS but rather as "a compassionate
appeal to future generations to abstain from a lifestyle that
leads to these complications."
Hall, whose son Darren died of AIDS at age 25 in 1992, said,
"I think both the House and Senate realized it was important
that we not drop these individuals." Hall said she hopes the
state next finds funding to shorten the list of people waiting
for assistance from the program. |
Brad Pitt Joins Bono in New Ad Campaign to
Fight Poverty and AIDS
Associated Press (04.06.05) - Friday, April
08, 2005
CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update
Brad Pitt will be among the celebrities featured in new
public service announcements for U2 singer Bono's campaign
against AIDS and poverty. "ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty
History" is not immediately asking for donations but is
recruiting new advocates and raising awareness, Bono said
Wednesday at a press announcement. Pitt, who toured Africa after
being inspired by Bono's advocacy, said the continent's extreme
poverty has made it difficult for HIV patients to gain access to
AIDS drugs. A 60-second spot will air Sunday night on various
networks and cable channels and features actors Djimon Hounsou,
Tom Hanks, Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, and Penelope Cruz as well as
evangelist Pat Robertson and the Rev. Frank Griswold, presiding
bishop of the US Episcopal Church. |
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