Washington Blade - June 30, 2006

ATLANTA (AP) - Primate expert Jane Goodall and 18 other researchers sent a letter to federal officials urging them to oppose an Atlanta research center's proposal to do AIDS-related research on sooty mangabey monkeys. The letter urges the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to reject a request by the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, according to a copy filed with the government. Scientists at the research center have nurtured a group of the primates, which are natural carriers of a form of the AIDS virus but do not get sick from it, since the late 1960s. But federal officials listed them as endangered in 1988, leaving the center with the world's largest captive collection. Yerkes officials argue their mangabeys are a subspecies and not truly endangered and are proposing to help conserve the monkeys in the African wild in exchange for permission to do AIDS-related research on those in captivity. Federal officials have said such a trade-off has never before been permitted. In a letter dated June 19, Goodall and others say they hope it never is.

Bayer gets FDA approval for new HIV test

NEW YORK (AP) - Drug developer Bayer AG said June 21 its healthcare diagnostics division received U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval for a new automated HIV test that can detect all known types of the infection. The test, called the EHIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Enhanced, was approved for use on Bayer's ADVIA Centaur Immunoassay System. EHIV is a diagnostic test that looks for antibodies in human serum and plasma to HIV 1, HIV 2 and a subtype of HIV 1. The test is automated, allowing laboratories to increase testing with more accurate results, Bayer said in a statement. The system is made and sold by Bayer Diagnostics for Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

Canada study: Pap test recommended for gay men

VANCOUVER, Canada - A clinical professor at the University of British Columbia is suggesting that self-collected anal Pap smear testing for gay men may help prevent some sexually transmitted infections. Dr. Thomas Lampinen said the rate of invasive anal cancer is higher among men who have sex with men because it is caused by a sexually transmitted virus - the Human Papilloma Virus, Xtra West reported June 22. In a recent study, Lampinen and other researchers asked study participants to collect their own anal Pap smears, which require each subject to gather sample tissue cells using a swab inserted into the anus. Lampinen said results show that men are able to collect samples that were adequate for cancer screening. He said the self-collection technique also be useful in managing sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia in gay men. Routine Pap tests also might help reduce the prevalence of HIV.

FDA approves new drug to treat HIV

WASHINGTON (AP) - A new drug to treat HIV won federal approval June 23. The Food & Drug Administration approved Prezista, the first approved HIV medication for its maker, Johnson & Johnson. It's also the first new HIV drug approved since June 22, 2005. The drug, also known as darunavir, is a protease inhibitor, which works by blocking protease, a protein the virus needs to make more copies of itself. Since 1995, FDA has approved 10 other protease inhibitors. The major side effects of this class of drugs are high cholesterol and blood-sugar levels, as well as lipodystrophy, or the redistribution of body fat. Protease inhibitors typically are taken as part of a cocktail of drugs. Prezista is meant for use in patients who don't respond to treatment with other antiretroviral drugs, the FDA said.

Experts warn of HIV medicine shortage in Russia

MOSCOW (AP) - Many HIV-infected Russians are suffering from a dangerous shortage of medicine, experts said, warning that the interruptions in treatment could spawn drug-resistant forms of the virus. Shortages of antiretroviral drugs used to combat HIV have occurred in parts of Russia, "gravely impacting patients' lives," the Moscow branch of the World Health Organization said in a statement June 21. Medical experts say interruptions could make the virus stronger. "If the situation doesn't change, Russia could become a supplier of multiresistant forms of the virus to the whole world," said Mikhail Rukavishnikov, who heads the Russian Association of People Living with HIV.

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