Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Newsday (Nassau and Suffolk) - July 20, 1999
Laurie Garrett - Staff Writer
The announcement, which was timed to coincide with publication of the details in a British journal called Biologics, caught the AIDS community by surprise and was treated with some skepticism.
At the New York Blood Center, which has patented the cream, Dr. Robert Neurath and his colleagues screened dozens of inert compounds that have been used safely for years in over-the-counter drugs, such as aspirin. These compounds hold drugs in their capsule shapes, act as a buffer to ease stomach upset and make the drugs tasteless, or at least not foul tasting.
"We thought here these compounds are known to be safe, and nobody has ever tested them for antiviral activity," Neurath said in an interview.
He said his group found one-cellulose acetate phthalate-that seemed to kill HIV and genital herpes virus in test tube studies.
"So we made a cream of it," Neurath continued, "and the cream killed HIV, herpes viruses, chlamydia, trichomonas, gonorrhea, the bacteria that causes chancroid ..." The list goes on.
But according to Dr. Carl Dieffenbach of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, there are many compounds that have such biological activity in the test tube.
He says all such sugary, highly charged polymers wrap themselves around viruses and bacteria, "and hold on like a wet blanket. So it's a chemical condom.
[Neurath's cream] ... probably binds HIV to the point that it can't detach." Dieffenbach argues that the problem lies in making a foam or cream that is proven safe and effective.
Animal tests have been done with the new cream, though Neurath declined to offer details of the as yet unpublished study. Permission for human trials will be sought, he said.
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