Chicago Tribune (CT) - Saturday December 14, 1985, Page: 3

"Very large sums" could be at stake in royalties from worldwide testing for AIDS, the institute's director, Raymond Dedonder, told a news conference.

"This isn't war with the Americans, not even with the (research) team in question. There is still cooperation and exchange of material and there are meetings on AIDS almost every week."

He said he hoped the action would give impetus to a negotiated solution. Asked if the court action was intimidation, Dedonder said: "It is more than that. We hope to show Pasteur's priority (in the discovery of the AIDS virus) in court, in black and white."

The suit was filed Thursday in the U.S. Court of Claims in Washington after months of negotiations "ended in the past two days with an unacceptable offer" from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Dedonder said.

The Court of Claims hears cases filed against the U.S. government.

The Pasteur Institute has failed to obtain a U.S patent for an AIDS test based on its isolation of the AIDS virus, which its researchers call lymphadenopathy associated virus, or LAV. The institute said its discovery, made principally by Luc Montagnier, Jean-Claude Chermann and Francois Barre- Sinoussi, is "recognized throughout the world."

The discovery of the virus also has been claimed by researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute led by Dr. Robert C. Gallo, where the virus is referred to as human T-cell lymphotropic virus, type III, or HTLV-III.

A patent for an AIDS test based on Gallo's work was granted earlier this year, and such tests are now commercially available.

The Pasteur Institute scientists claim they discovered the virus months before Gallo did.

In New York, James B. Swire, the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of the Pasteur Institute, said: "If we are successful in this suit, we would not only have the court declare that the real invention rested with Pasteur, but also get monetary relief, namely a right to the royalties that the government has generated under its patent."

Genetic Systems of Seattle, Wash., which has licensed the rights to produce an AIDS test based on the French research, has not yet been given permission by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market its test, which is technically in violation of the U.S. patent, said Caroline Chaine, a spokeswoman for the Pasteur Institute.

AIDS tests detect the possible presence of AIDS antibodies. If they are present, the person tested has been exposed to the AIDS virus. It does not mean the person has the immunity-destroying disease.

Approximately 10 percent of those with a positive test will develop AIDS, according to Dr. John Ward of the AIDS activities section at the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

851214
CT851202

ÆGIS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, iMetrikus, Inc., John M. Lloyd Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1985. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

Copyright ©1980, 2003. AEGiS. All materials appearing on ÆGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of ÆGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.