National AIDS organizations are hurrying to find out about the new members of Congress. Have they had any involvement with AIDS, or with other health issues? Are they likely to be friendly, hostile, or indifferent? What issues of any sort are most important to them? If you have such information about your representativ
December 20: The new Congress convenes in January, and most of its members have little background or involvement with AIDS. What happens to AIDS research, care, prevention, and human rights depends on whether members of Congress hear from VOTERS IN THEIR DISTRICTS that AIDS is important to them. But so far the AIDS com
On December 5, AIDS, breast cancer, and lesbian activists joined forces to protest lack of access to a promising treatment for certain cancers. Because the protest target, Genentech , Inc. of South San Francisco, is housed in a number of widely-separated buildings, too far from each other to easily walk between, the pr
On December 20, the FDA approved a program to make human growth hormone available to persons with AIDS-related wasting syndrome, before full marketing approval for this indication; the drug should be available under this program by mid January. Wasting syndrome is a frequent cause of death of persons with AIDS. Human g
DOX-SL (TM) (liposomal doxorubicin), an experimental treatment for Kaposi s sarcoma, will now be available through a new trial to persons who have failed systemic combination chemotherapy. DOX-SL is a conventional chemotherapy drug (doxorubicin), but in a new form which causes it to be targeted better to KS lesions. DO
Researchers at Columbia University have found evidence of a previously unknown herpesvirus in KS lesions of persons with AIDS. This virus has not been found in tissues of persons without AIDS and without KS -- including those with lymphoma and other diseases. It is occasionally present in non-KS tissue from persons wit
On November 22, the WASHINGTON POST mentioned a Republican proposal for dismantling the Ryan White program to care for AIDS patients (and) reexamining the Americans with Disabilities Act. The San Francisco-based Mobilization Against AIDS called the reporters, but they could not identify the staff person they talked to,
A new computer communication system, designed for government and nonprofit AIDS agencies, was announced October 31 at the National Skills Building Conference in Atlanta. This project uses HandsNet, already a major tool for electronic communication among nonprofit organizations, for a new project to improve communicatio
A glimpse of a largely untold history was published November 25 in the BAY AREA REPORTER, a gay newspaper in San Francisco. The article, Activists Zap FDA Over Growth Hormones, by Jeff Getty of ACT UP/Golden Gate, looks at one treatment (recombinant human growth hormone for wasting syndrome) but illustrates a larger st
Vpr, a protein produced by HIV and found in the bloodstream of persons with HIV disease, has been found to activate HIV at low concentrations -- lower than those often found in patients blood. A recent paper, by four University of Pennsylvania researchers, presented considerable evidence that Vpr may be involved in the
There has been much excitement among researchers and activists about the results of European trials, in over 300 patients, which compared the experimental antiviral 3TC (also called lamivudine), used in combination with AZT , to AZT alone.
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS is starting a new, nonprofit organization to expand our free work in providing AIDS treatment information to underserved communities. This will include more subscriptions for anyone in need, as well as support to organizations serving specific communities including minorities, women, prisoners, the
The November elections created a difficult and dangerous time for those working for an effective U.S. response to AIDS. To look at what should be done now, AIDS TREATMENT NEWS interviewed Tom Sheridan, a professional lobbyist, AIDS organizer, and founder of The Sheridan Group, a government and public-relations organiza
Hydroxyurea is a prescription drug which has been used for about 30 years in treating certain cancers, and for a few other diseases. Theory suggests that hydroxyurea might be active against HIV, and that if it is, the virus would be unlikely to develop resistance to it. Laboratory results at the U.S. National Cancer In
In early 1993 there was great excitement about the convergent combination approach to antiviral treatment. This theory holds that there may be limits to how much a virus can mutate and still be able to reproduce, and therefore there might be certain drug combinations, targeted against THE SAME viral protein, which coul
The following is our transcript of a section of a talk by Douglas D. Richman, M.D., on viral resistance, given November 12, 1994 at the recent New Directions in Antiviral Chemotherapy conference in San Francisco. This presentation is important because it cites studies from many researchers which strongly support the fe
There is more despair in the AIDS community now than probably ever before. The bad news -- often misreported, misinterpreted, and misunderstood -- is heard again and again, and reaches the minds of people everywhere. Medical and scientific presentations are largely empty of important good news, and people sense that li
Leaders of about 40 nations will gather in Paris on World AIDS Day, December 1, for the first-ever international summit meeting on AIDS. According to the organizers -- the French government, and the World Health Organization -- this is the first time in world history that heads of government will be considering a healt
A national organization of Title II recipient agencies and others concerned is now being formed. Every state and territory has Title II Federal funding, which supports thousands of community-based agencies and AIDS programs. (The process of distributing Title II funds is different in every state; California is not typi
California s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) pays for certain drugs required by AIDS/HIV patients, for those with annual gross income under $50,000. For those with under 400 percent of the Federal poverty level, the drugs are provided free; for those with incomes over that amount, but under $50,000, a copayment may
Infants and children with life-threatening diseases face a shocking lack of drugs tested for safety in children -- and tested for the stability of the improvised formulations doctors are often forced to use. At the same time, unnecessary efficacy testing in children -- for example, testing in children of biologically i
On October 26, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the text of more than 1500 AIDS-related patents is now online on the Internet. The patents can be searched by any word in the text, or in other ways; and the full patent (or only parts of it) can be printed out immediately. AIDS TREATMENT NEWS tried out this
In our last issue, AIDS TREATMENT NEWS published a phone number in Canada for obtaining human growth hormone for HIV- related wasting syndrome, a major cause of death for persons with AIDS. As this issue went to press, we learned that this number for physicians (800/935-8853, for the Serono Canada Information Line for
The AIDS Treatment Information Service (ATIS), sponsored by a group of several U.S. Public Health Service agencies, is providing information about AIDS treatments, based on guidelines published by the Federal government. This service, which is free and confidential, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. E
Accurate tests for the level of HIV RNA in blood plasma -- which shows the number of HIV virions present in the blood -- are now commercially available to physicians, and have been available for research use for some time. The greatest need now is to use these tests in many small, rapid trials, to learn how to better u
A proposal for a high-level task force on protease inhibitors received strong support from FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler, M.D., and from Philip R. Lee, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, at the October 27-28 meeting of the National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development
In a November 4 conference call, Searle announced that it was stopping development of its protease inhibitor SC-52151, saying that despite promising results in laboratory tests, two clinical trials have shown no indication of antiviral activity in people. The company issued the following statement: Based on the re
Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington, has received a three-year, $840,000 grant from the Office of Alternative Medicine to establish an Alternative Medicine Center for research in HIV/AIDS. The new Center will: * Research the patterns of use of alternative treatments for AIDS and related conditions. What is the ext
A full report of a 12-month study of passive hyperimmune therapy (also called passive immunotherapy) appeared in the October 1 issue of BLOOD (volume 84, number 7, pages 2130- 2135). This study, together with a report of a study at the National Blood Transfusion Institute in Paris, which was presented at a passive immu
A small but important study is testing saquinavir , the Hoffmann-La Roche protease inhibitor, at four times the dose used in the larger clinical trials. This study is still open for enrollment. The trial will last six months, and there should be continuing access to the drug after the study ends.
U.S. AIDS patients with wasting syndrome have been able to obtain emergency supplies of recombinant human growth hormone through an office set up for compassionate access in Canada . The drug is expensive, however, and will probably not be reimbursed by U.S. health insurance. For several years there have been small stu
One important paper was overlooked at the Surrogate Markers meeting; it had been presented the week before, at the ICAAC (Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy) conference in Orlando, Florida. It was one of the late breaker presentations at ICAAC -- meaning that the results were available too
Over 200 AIDS researchers and several treatment activists attended a three-day meeting Surrogate Markers of HIV: Strategies and Issues for Selection and Use, October 12-14 near Washington, D.C. This article will review the importance of the subject, and examine the consensus document which emerged from an appointed 17-
Proposition 187, on the November 8 ballot in California, would prohibit publicly funded hospitals and clinics from providing any but emergency public medical care to undocumented immigrants. Doctors would be required to report suspected illegal immigrants to Federal authorities. Most media attention so far has been foc
The AIDS community has been at a continuing disadvantage in organizing grassroots support in the form of letters and phone calls to Congressional representatives, and to other national, regional, and local officials. The right wing has been very good at this. We believe that the key to mobilizing grassroots response is
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked for public comment on a proposed rule that would require researchers running human trials of drugs or medical devices to disclose certain personal financial interests in the outcome of the trial, if and when the data is submitted to the FDA to support marketing of the
Because of the continuing effects of the generally gloomy news coverage of the Tenth International Conference on AIDS, in Yokohama, Japan , August 7-12, 1994, readers should have some background into the mechanics of how the press coverage came about. First, the tone and content of most U.S. media coverage of this conf
Liposomal doxorubicin (trade name DOX-SL*) is a form of the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin which has been enclosed in specially designed liposomes (microscopic spheres of fat). Studies have found that the liposomal form of the drug is better targeted to KS lesions (and also to certain cancer tumors) than the free drug,
AIDS Treatment News recently published a two-part interview on nutrition and AIDS (issues #204 and #205, August 5 and 19, 1994). A dietitian suggested that we further clarify the difference between the terms nutritionist and registered dietitian, and include some additional resources for nutritional information. Many
Public hearings on biotechnology patents will be held October 17, 1994, at 9:00 a.m., in the Cooper Room of the San Diego Concourse, 202 C St., San Diego. Persons interested in speaking or in sending written testimony should contact the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks (see information below). Background -- Why I
Project Inform has compiled an 11-page fact sheet on interactions of drugs commonly used by people with HIV disease, including experimental drugs. Everyone using multiple drugs for HIV-related treatments should obtain a copy. The September 28 version includes interaction between other drugs (and some foods) and:
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #207, September 16, 1994
Rae Trewartha
The finding that AZT can reduce HIV transmission from mothers to infants by about two-thirds, [first announced by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February this year -- see AIDS Treatment News #194, March 4, 1994] is indeed a major step forward. Important questions, however, remain unanswered: * This trial
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #207, September 16, 1994
John S. James
During the last several weeks, a long-running dispute among AIDS treatment activists has become particularly intense and often bitter. The dispute concerns where to place the emphasis on early access to new experimental treatments such as protease inhibitors , vs. getting better answers on how well the treatments work
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #207, September 16, 1994
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded six grants for innovative, high-tech AIDS treatment research, under a new program called SPIRAT (Strategic Program for Innovative Research on AIDS Treatment). The projects are funded for four years, with the first year total being $6.2 millio
A convenient way to register to vote in California is to call a toll-free hotline run by the California Secretary of State. You leave your name and address, and receive a postage-paid form which takes about two minutes to fill out. The last day to register for the important November 8 election is October 11. You must r
SEARCH Alliance, a community-based research organization in Los Angeles, is conducting a small, uncontrolled trial of allicin, an oil derived from garlic, as a treatment for cryptosporidiosis. The trial will enroll 25 patients and last for three weeks, with five outpatient visits. Five patients have already been enroll
[The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has requested public comment for the September 12-13 meeting of its Antiviral Advisory Committee, which will examine accelerated approval -- the regulations now in effect which allow critically needed drugs to be approved based on blood tests which show virological or immunologica
[Note: The following is from our statement to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation public policy forum on research issues, 8/23/94.] The Problem The recent Yokohama conference was badly reported in the press. Behind the gloom and doom on AIDS treatments, much valuable science was overlooked. AIDS Research is improving, an
While there was new information at the Tenth International Conference on AIDS, August 7-12 in Yokohama, that meeting mainly served to summarize the current state of scientific knowledge about many aspects of HIV disease -- areas of evolving consensus, and also continuing disagreement among experts. In pathogenesis -- t
[Note: This is the continuation of the interview with Kristin Weaver, R.N., M.S.N., C.N.S.N., of the Bay Area Nutrition Counseling Center and Clinic (BANC) at San Francisco General Hospital. Part I appeared in our last issue, #204; copies are available from AIDS TREATMENT NEWS, 800/TREAT-1-2. Note the resource list at
A two-day public meeting of the FDA Antiviral Advisory Committee is shaping up as one of the important AIDS policy and community meetings of the year. It is important to let the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry know that the AIDS community insists on early access to new treatments, and strongly supports accelerated
The August 15 issue of BARRON S (the Dow Jones business and financial weekly) has a cover article, Do We Have Too Many Drugs for AIDS? The cover includes the following summary: In a turnabout, some AIDS activists are now asking the government to slow down its drug-approval process. What it means for pharmaceutical comp
The Tenth International Conference on AIDS, August 7-12 in Yokohama, Japan , generated the usual media gloom about the lack of effective treatments. The gloom is understandable; AIDS treatment development has been a disaster (despite all the attention to the one major success of the last year, the two-thirds reduction
A multicenter placebo-controlled trial with 178 volunteers has shown clear evidence that human growth hormone can reverse wasting syndrome, which causes many deaths in cases of advanced AIDS. It is the first treatment for wasting which has been proven to consistently restore lean body mass, according to principal inves
AIDS Treatment News #203 gave an information number for physicians to call to obtain information about enrolling patients in the parallel track program for access to d4T , which is continuing for a short time, despite approval of the drug, because of a delay in availability of commercial drug supplies.
An informal telephone poll of over 50,000 people, conducted by Parade Magazine and published in the July 31 issue, found that 89 percent believed that marijuana should be legal for medicinal purposes. This was not a scientific poll which selected people randomly, but consisted of callers who responded to the June 12 Pa
On August 2, Patricia S. Fleming was appointed interim AIDS coordinator by President Clinton. Ms. Fleming is currently special assistant to Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala. She previously served as administrative assistant to the late Ted Weiss (D-NY), specializing in AIDS and public health issues.
The KS Project Report: Current Issues in Research & Treatment of Kaposi s Sarcoma , an 85-page report by Michael Marco with Marty Majchrowicz, covers all aspects of conventional treatments, experimental treatments, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and research -- what is being done in KS research, and how its funding an
The 1994 California State budget once again reduced the prescription allowance for MediCal patients -- starting October, 1 the limit will be six per month without prior approval. In 1977 the previous limit of two prescriptions per month was changed to allow an unlimited number; however, the 1992 California State budget
Kristin Weaver, R.N., M.S.N., C.N.S.N., is the Clinical Research Coordinator and Nursing Director of GI (Gastrointestinal) Nutrition Services at San Francisco General Hospital. We spoke with her recently about the relationship between HIV disease and nutrition. This is part I of the interview. Note: Recently San Franci
During the last two years, new blood tests for HIV viral load have increasingly been used in clinical trials and other scientific research. There is great interest among researchers, as the early, preliminary results of major studies are showing that changes in viral load due to change in therapy can predict clinical b
On July 8, National AIDS Policy Coordinator Kristine Gebbie announced her resignation, effective August 2. She has faced growing criticism during the last several months, and influential AIDS organizations have called for her to be replaced. Clearly the major problems in the Federal response to AIDS, the major lost opp
[On July 19 AIDS TREATMENT NEWS interviewed National AIDS Policy Coordinator Kristine M. Gebbie, who announced her resignation on July 8, effective August 2. See also our commentary and call for action, below; it was written before we conducted this interview.] ATN: How can our readers participate in the ongoing effort
Persons looking for a good introduction to immunology, written for medical students, should consider Immunology, Second Edition, by Janis Kuby, which appeared in medical and technical bookstores last week. We recommend this book for three reasons: * It is well respected in mainstream medicine, with the earlier edition
As this issue went to press, a reader in Germany called to tell us that the German Ministry of Health had warned people not to use calf thymus or other organ extracts (widely used in Europe in cancer treatment), because of a theoretical risk of contamination with BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also called mad
[Note: A serious problem in science is that journals do not like to publish negative results -- indications that something does not work. As a result, other researchers do not become aware of information they should have. The following report suggests that the prescription drug phenytoin (Dilantin) is not promising as
For several years San Francisco researcher Joel Palefsky, M.D., and his staff at the University of California have been monitoring an apparent increase in precancerous changes in anal tissue among persons infected with the human papilloma virus ( HPV ), the virus that causes genital and anal warts. Dr.
Those unable to attend the X International Conference on AIDS (in Yokohama, Japan , August 7-12) can hear a summary through a live interactive teleconference on Tuesday, August 9, and Thursday, August 11. Each day includes a one and a half hour community update starting at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (5:30 Central Time, 3:3
As reported in the previous issue of AIDS TREATMENT NEWS, the newly approved HIV drug d4T (brand name Zerit ),was expected to be on pharmacy shelves in July. Due to production problems, commercial availability has been delayed; pharmacies are now expected to receive
This trial will test whether thymopentin (also called TP-5, or Timunox), can slow the progression of HIV disease in AZT- experienced persons. Volunteers must be asymptomatic, with T-helper count from 100-400. They must have taken at least six months of prior AZT, and upon entry into the study may be receiving AZT, ddI,
The following bibliography includes all the medical-journal articles we can find about thymomodulin -- not only regarding HIV, but research for any use. This bibliography is in two parts. Part I includes 41 articles indexed under thymomodulin by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, in the MEDLINE or AIDSLINE database
Thymomodulin, a preparation made from the thymus glands of calves, is an approved drug in Italy , and is used in Europe as an immune treatment. Human trials have shown good results with a number of conditions involving immune deficiency or dysfunction -- for example, in treating
AIDS TREATMENT NEWS editor John S. James has volunteered to edit a newsletter for the Global AIDS Action Network (GAAN), on international AIDS advocacy. The new GAAN Bulletin will appear four times a year. GAAN -- founded by Paul Boneberg, who also founded the San Francisco-based Mobilization Against AIDS -- is now one
Chapel Hill, Frankfurt ( Germany ), Hershey, Honolulu, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, and Sherman Oaks An important new trial will compare combination treatment with L-524 (the Merck protease) plus AZT , vs. L-524 alone and AZT alone. Volunteers must have a T-helper count under 500, and no prio
[Note: The following article began as a memo to treatment activists who were to meet with William Paul, M.D., Director of the Office of AIDS Research. We were invited to the meeting, but were unable to attend.] In the history of medicine, advances have often come from unexpected places -- chance observations or discove
PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy) is a brain infection caused by a virus, the JC virus. It is relatively rare, diagnosed in only about one percent of people with AIDS. But many cases are misdiagnosed, usually as toxoplasmosis or lymphoma . While PML most often occurs in late-stage AIDS, it can also be fo
A study sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases found that a three-drug combination (the Hoffmann-La Roche protease (also called proteinase) inhibitor saquinavir [formerly called Ro 31-8959], plus
The experimental anti-HIV drug d4T (generic name stavudine , brand name Zerit ), now widely available in a parallel track program for patients who cannot successfully use either of the appro
[Note: This interview was conducted as a continuation of Antivirals and Immune Recovery, above.] Michael S. Saag, M.D., a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is a new member of the Executive Committee of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), the main U.S.-government program for clinical trials of AI
Michael S. Saag, M.D., is Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is both a laboratory scientist and a physician who treats patients. I combine my laboratory experience and my clinical experience, and participate as a member of a dynamic scientific group
A readable but in-depth review of the current status of gene therapy appears in the current JOURNAL OF THE PHYSICIANS ASSOCIATION FOR AIDS CARE (formerly PAACNOTES), dated March 1994. It summarizes the work of the nine U.S. biotechnology companies currently developing one or more gene-therapy products for treatment or
ANTIVIRAL AGENTS BULLETIN, a 32-page newsletter published 12 times a year by the Biotechnology Information Institute, covers commercial and scientific developments, federal and regulatory activities, information resources, treatment advances and trends, patents, and technology transfers. Abstracts of all antiviral and
The FEDERAL BIO-TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER DIRECTORY is a unique reference book on biomedical research which is available for commercial development from the federal government. It includes over 2,800 abstracts -- mostly on patents, licensing, and government-industry development agreements -- many of which are relevant to AID
A critically important trial of the Merck protease inhibitor (L-524) needs 60 volunteers who have never taken AZT or ddI for more than two weeks, and who have a T-helper count of under 500. The trial will take place in San Francisco and at several other U.S. sites; we do not know the other cities at press time.
The future of AIDS research was the focus of two articles which appeared on May 12: AIDS: Time to Turn to Basic Science, by Bernard N. Fields, M.D., in the scientific journal NATURE, and Scientists Say U.S. Research on AIDS Needs Redirection, by Gina Kolata in THE NEW YORK TIMES. The TIMES article underlined the import
The new bound volume of AIDS TREATMENT NEWS is now available through our office, and will be in bookstores shortly. Unlike our previous two volumes, Volume III is organized by subject, not chronologically. Therefore you can find all the articles on a major topic in one place. There is also a detailed table of contents,
The Antiviral Drug Products Advisory Committee will hold a public hearing on whether acyclovir should be switched from prescription to over-the-counter status. The hearing is scheduled for May 19 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Parklawn Building, conference rooms D and E, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland.
The Antiviral Drug Products Advisory Committee, a panel of outside experts convened by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will hold a public hearing on whether d4T (generic name stavudine , brand name
Roy Vagelos on AIDS Research and Drug Development, in the March 1994 GMHC Treatment Issues, examines a number of important areas from the viewpoint of perhaps the most influential person in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Vagelos is the chairman of Merck & Co. , Inc., and the principal organizer of the Inter-Comp
Protease Inhibitors: Overview and Analysis, by Dave Gilden, with assistance from Ben Cheng, Rick Loftus, and others, which appears in the March 1994 GMHC Treatment Issues, uses both published articles and unpublished information from within companies to provide an authoritative status report on the
The first human trial of curcumin -- an alternative treatment in use in the AIDS community, and the first of a potentially new class of anti-HIV treatments which target the LTR (long terminal repeat) of the AIDS virus -- found a modest antiviral effect, according to SEARCH Alliance, a community-based research organizat
[Michelle Roland, a 4th-year medical student, is starting Internal Medicine residency at the University of California San Francisco/San Francisco General Hospital in June.] Introduction [Note: Much of the clinical and research information contained in this article was provided by physician investigators in the Dermatol
We sent the following memos to the National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development, for their meeting on April 14 and 15. They describe a new class of potential drugs, which are not well known in the AIDS world but are being actively developed for cancer. Because a major meeting on this subject occurred on April 13 in San
The following listings are from AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Volume 3, which is now in press (publisher, Alyson Publications, Boston) and should be in the bookstores in late May or early June. We did not include all hotlines, but those we think will be most useful for our readers. You may want to keep this reference handy, for
A paper published a year ago, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, suggested that substances found in a plant-based diet, especially one high in soy products, such as the traditional Japanese diet, may help control abnormal angiogenesis (growth of blood vessels).(1) Angiogenesis is centrally imp
A new clinical trial -- the first conducted jointly by the Federally- sponsored AIDS Clinical Trials Group and military institutions -- will study whether an advanced blood test can show the best time to switch from AZT alone to other treatments. This trial is seeking 300 volunteers, 150 from civilian and 150 from mili
The rapid development of drug resistance by HIV continues to be a major obstacle in finding better treatments. Resistance to AZT and similar drugs is well known; resistance to protease inhibitors , a new class of experimental drugs, is now also being found.
Since February 22, three packages of pharmaceuticals shipped from Mexico to the PWA Health Group in New York have been held by the Cincinnati office of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On March 16, as this issue goes to press, one of the three has been released; the other two are still being held. The PWA Health
As we reported in the last two issues of AIDS TREATMENT NEWS, California recently added 13 new medications to its AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), as a result of new Federal funding through the Ryan White CARE Act. A total of 27 drugs (see below) are now approved for this program for uninsured persons with low or m
DOX-SL (formerly called Doxil -- the name has been changed to avoid a trademark dispute in Europe) is an experimental treatment, now being tested for Kaposi s sarcoma and for some cancers, which has generated considerable interest in the AIDS treatment community. This article outlines what DOX-SL is, what trials are un
[Note: New York treatment activist Michael Marco heads the Oncology Project of the Treatment Action Group (TAG), which reports on treatments and research for various AIDS-related malignancies, and for Kaposi s sarcoma (KS). He is also co- authoring (with Marty Majchrowicz from AIDS Project Los Angeles) a report on KS p
Isis 5320 is a new anti-HIV agent developed by Isis Pharmaceuticals , of Carlsbad, California. It is much too early to know whether this potential drug will be useful in AIDS treatment; not even complete animal toxicology data is yet available. What is most interesting now is the unusual method of drug development by w
An Italian study has found that a three-drug combination of AZT , alpha interferon, and thymosin alpha 1 resulted in a large increase in T-helper cell count, sustained for at least 18 months, in patients who started with a T-helper count between 200 and 500. However, only a handful of patients received the treatment in
On February 21 the U.S. National Institutes of Health issued a Clinical Alert announcing that AZT greatly reduced the risk of HIV transmission from pregnant women to their babies, according to preliminary results of the Federally-sponsored trial ACTG 076; those who received the drug in the trial were only a third as li
Protease inhibitors, a new kind of AIDS drug, work differently than any approved or available treatment; they block an enzyme, the HIV protease, which is produced by the virus and required for it to reproduce. About a dozen pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are now developing different
Our list of drugs in the California AIDS Drug Assistance Program (AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #192, February 4, 1994) erroneously listed 5-fluorouracil as one of the drugs provided. The drug flucytosine should have been listed instead. The correct list is: acyclovir , amphotericin B, atovaquone, azithromycin,
[Note: Thomas P. McCormack, a leading expert on AIDS insurance and entitlement issues, is the author of The AIDS Benefits Handbook (Yale University Press, 1990). He has served as benefits policy specialist with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and with the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPW
Researchers in London have reported impressive results in treating rheumatoid arthritis with a monoclonal antibody against tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Initial results of the trial, conducted by T. Miani and M. Feldman, were published in the February issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism. We could not obtain the article by
On February 17, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced the appointment of William Paul, M.D., as director of the new Office of AIDS Research (OAR) at NIH. Dr. Paul, an immunologist, has been chief of the Laboratory of Immunology at the U.S. Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, part of NIH) sin
A new trial in San Francisco will begin the human testing of Bucast, an anti-HIV compound which has been studied in laboratory tests and in animals for several years. This phase I study seeks 40 to 60 volunteers, who must have a T-helper count over 500, and be willing to spend some time at HIVCare at St. Francis Memori
Two large-scale trials of the Hoffmann-La Roche proteinase inhibitor Ro 31-8959 -- seeking 1200 volunteers for a U.S. study, and approximately 1800 others for a separate international study -- are now beginning. Proteinase inhibitors are a new kind of anti-HIV drug, fundamentally different from
On February 4, Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala named the members of the National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development -- the new high-level panel to look at all aspects of AIDS medical research, and implement or recommend improvements in both government and private programs to speed the discovery an
California s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which pays for AIDS drugs for uninsured persons with low or moderate income, has traveled a difficult road over the last several years, as the state tried to cut it back while the community demanded its expansion. A recent infusion of $3.4 million from the federal Ryan
In what could become model legislation for other states, a recent California law (effective since January 1993) requires insurance companies and health-care plans, if they cover prescription drugs, to include coverage for off-label use of approved drugs for life-threatening conditions, provided that, Two articles from
President Clinton s budget plan for 1995 is due to be released February 7. Present indications are that it contains no new funding for HIV/AIDS prevention. What effect is this likely to have on prevention efforts in fiscal year 1995 (the year which begins October 1, 1994)? Mike Shriver, executive director of Mobilizati
The American Association of Physicians for Human Rights (AAPHR) and the National Lawyers Guild AIDS Network have published a 47-page booklet, The Legal Rights and Obligations of HIV-Infected Health Care Workers, by Elise Gautier, J.D., M.A. This groundbreaking guide examines the many legal ramifications of being HIV po
The world s largest library of health sciences, the National Library of Medicine (NLM, a unit of the National Institutes of Health), will no longer charge access fees for three AIDS-related research databases and an online directory of information sources. This means that AIDS organizations and public libraries can now
In a paper published in March 1993, Chiang J. Li and others at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School reported results of laboratory tests which identified three substances which should be investigated as potential treatments for AIDS or HIV.(1) The three are curcumin (an antioxidant and anti-inflammat
AIDS information by computer is available 24 hours a day, from any location with a telephone -- often for no cost except for a local or long-distance call. More AIDS information is available this way than in any library -- and often it s more recent information, since there is no printing or mailing delay. Also, some c
[Note: This is the second and final part of our coverage of the First National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections. The first part appeared in issue #190.] With about 40 thousand new HIV infections per year in the United States , the domestic AIDS epidemic is hardly over. Yet until now little attent
A trial of the Merck protease inhibitor, code-named L-735,524 (L-524), is being conducted in the five cities above. Volunteers must be asymptomatic, with a T-helper count under 500, and must be p24 positive (at least 25 pg/ml). They will be randomly assigned to one of three treatment arms: low dose L-524, high dose L-5
Researchers submitting abstracts to the Tenth International Conference on AIDS should note that they need to be delivered (not faxed) to Japan , and arrive no later than February 28, 1994. Because of the international date line, February 28 in Japan is February 27 in the U.S. For instructions on submitting abstracts, a
1994 will be a watershed year for international AIDS policy. But U.S. AIDS organizations are unaware of what is happening, so they have had no voice in the decisions. To outline some of the major policy issues of 1994, we interviewed Paul Boneberg of Global AIDS Action Network (GAAN). GAAN is a new effort to help AIDS
The Barbara McClintock Project to Cure AIDS will hold a one- day session on legislative strategy, on Saturday, January 22, starting at 10 a.m., at the Institute for Policy Studies, 1601 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. For more information, call Luke at 202/232-3365. Federal legislation based on the ideas of the
The Washington Blade, a gay newspaper in Washington, D.C., published a survey of private AIDS funding of national organizations, in its December 10 issue. It did a similar survey two years go, allowing comparisons. Some highlights: * The six AIDS groups with the largest income received twice the money of the six larges
A national news story on January 4 and 5 reported that Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services Dr. Philip Lee said that the ban on medical use of marijuana, imposed by the Bush administration, was being reviewed. In fact, the review has been ongoing for weeks, but no decision has been made; Dr. Lee was not sa
HPMPC (also called GS-0504) is more active against CMV than either ganciclovir or foscarnet; early human trials have shown good results in clearing CMV from urine and semen. Unfortunately, HPMPC also causes kidney toxicity, which can be reduced by adjusting the dosage schedule, and by use of probenecid, a drug which re
HPMPC, a experimental drug being developed for CMV , is also very active against herpes simplex , including herpes simplex which has become resistant to acyclovir . Systemic use is limited by kidney toxicity, but th
On December 28, Abbott Laboratories announced that clarithromycin (brand name, Biaxin) had been approved for treatment of MAC (infection with Mycobacterium avium complex, also called MAI). Clarithromycin was first approved in the U.S. for other infections in November 1991. It was in widespread use for treating MAC even
Trimetrexate (brand name, NeuTrexin) has been approved for treatment of moderate to severe pneumocystis pneumonia ( PCP ), when the preferred treatment, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (also called co-trimoxazole, Bactrim, Septra, etc.), cannot be used. US Bioscience , Inc., the developer, announced the approval on De
The First National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections was held in Washington, D.C., from December 12 through 16. The first of an annual series of meetings, it was a low-key alternative to the huge International Conference on AIDS, with only 1500 people attending and 750 papers and posters presented
What do we believe should be done differently in AIDS research? In the history of medical advances against other infectious diseases, but our impression is that the key discoveries have usually been unexpected -- not the result of institutional programs based on the theories of the day. Therefore, we propose a research
Much is happening in AIDS treatment and research today, but no one knows which developments will be important. This article outlines several areas we find most interesting now. LTR Inhibitors One way to look for antiviral AIDS/HIV treatments is to use laboratory tests to find substances to inhibit the long terminal rep
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.