The Treatment Education Program of AIDS Project Los Angeles publishes fact sheets on a broad range of alternative therapies for HIV. The fact sheets are well-referenced, easy to read and available free of charge. To obtain a set of these fact sheets call 213/993-1529.
Some analysts are speculating that Wellcome, the United Kingdom-based parent of Burroughs Wellcome, may be sold in the not-too-distant future. They cite recent disappointments for the company, including the failure of valaciclovir to beat SmithKline s famciclovir to market, the inability to obtain rights to Glaxo s
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 11 December 1994
David Gold
The question of whether long-term acyclovir ( Zovirax ) therapy can prolong survival is one of the most enduring and unanswered questions in HIV treatment. In an attempt to get a definitive answer, GMHC and the Treatment Action Group (TAG) have proposed to Burroughs W
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 11 December 1994
David Gold
According to a Phase I study released at this fall s Interscience Conference on Anti-Microbial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), a unique therapy, Seragen s IL-2 diphtheria fusion toxin, is well tolerated and shows possible anti-viral effects at higher doses. Yet the therapy, known as DAB389 IL-2, may be dropped because
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 11 December 1994
The Roche Group, based in Basel, Switzerland is the corporate parent of Hoffmann-La Roche . Roche, which recently purchased Syntex and, before that, a controlling interest in Genentech , is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. In terms of value of outstanding stock, Roche approache
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues" Vol. 8, No. 11 - December 1994
The accuracy of Pap smears varies greatly from one clinical setting to another. Risa Denenberg, who performs hundreds of the tests per year, says patients and clinicians should remember the following: * The best smears are obtained mid-cycle. * Smears taken during a period or when bleeding for any other reason are unac
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues" Vol. 8, No. 11 - December 1994
Amy Fusselman
Defining the best way to screen HIV-positive women for cervical cancer has long been a matter of debate. Medical reports through the years have documented that women with HIV have a greater risk of cervical cancer and that such cancer progresses more rapidly and tends to recur after treatment. The standard method for d
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues" Vol. 8, No. 11 - December 1994
Dave Gilden
3TC , an anti-HIV compound that has had trouble making an impression finally got some favorable news last month. Reports at the Second International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection (held in Glasgow, Scotland from November 18 to 22) gave the first hint -- and it is only a hint despite a deluge of publicity -
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues" Vol. 8, No. 11 - December 1994
Kevin Robert Frost
On December 14, the National Eye Institute (NEI), a division of the National Institutes of Health, announced the results of a study of intraocular implants for the treatment of CMV retinitis in people with AIDS. The announcement coincided with publication of the results in the Archives of Ophthalmology and an editorial
A wandering zero garbled one of the questions and answers in last month s interview with David Ho. The question concerned measurements of blood levels of HIV by PCR or bDNA. Here is the corrected passage from the article: Treatment Issues: What does it really mean if you have a level of 200,000? David Ho: Well, obvious
A trial of IGX for the treatment of cryptosporidiosis will begin at New York Cornell Medical Center in New York under the direction of Rosemary Soave, M.D. IGX is hyperimmunized chicken egg yolk. In the open label 21-day study, patients will drink one-quarter cup of yolk (which some patients have described as a rather
The nation s leading AIDS organizations have petitioned the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and Hoffmann-La Roche to implement without delay an expanded access program for saquinavir , an HIV protease inhibitor. The petition, which was released at the October meeting of
A number of unconfirmed reports suggest that the combination of 3TC (also known as lamivudine) and AZT is achieving impressive antiviral effects in studies of HIV-positive patients. Results of combination AZT/3TC studies are expected to be released this month at the
The CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse has started a new HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service. Those interested can call 800/HIV-0440. TDD/deaf access is 800/243-7012. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. eastern time, and all calls are completely confidential. The service provides federally approved treatm
A coalition of organizations, including GMHC, is circulating a consensus statement calling for refunding of the four sites in the Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS (CPCRA) that were recently de-funded (see Treatment Issues, October 1994, page 12). Three of the four defunded sites were in New York City. T
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) appears to be stifling one of the most important AIDS drug development programs with hardly a murmur of protest from AIDS activists. The program -- the $10 to 15 million dollar a year National Cooperative Drug Discovery Groups for the Treatment of HIV Infection (NCDDG-HIV) -- has
A conference in London sponsored last month by proponents of passive immunotherapy (PIT) sparked a new round of interest in the therapy, with reports appearing on both CBS and BBC television. Because of the interest that has been generated by these reports, Treatment Issues is providing a brief report on PIT. What is P
The most dramatic change in atmosphere between the Ninth International Conference on AIDS last year and the Tenth International Conference this year concerned the newly available measurement techniques for HIV load. The new HIV assays -- involving branched DNA (bDNA from the Chiron Corporation) and quantitative polymer
The Thirty-fourth Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) was held this year in Orlando, Florida from October 4 to 7. ICAAC has become the most important infectious disease conference in the world, with over 40 percent of the attendees coming from outside the United States . Below
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
David Gold
The Department of Treatment Education and Advocacy has produced a set of easy-to-read treatment fact sheets in English and Spanish. The first fact sheet series covers toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidiosis, CMV , and MAC . The fact sheets describe the signs and symptoms of these illnesses, drugs used to treat them, side effe
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
David Gold
Derek Link of GMHC s Department of Treatment Education and Advocacy has written a report entitled Current Directions in AIDS Research: An Analysis of AIDS Drug and Vaccine Development at the NIH. The report provides a detailed analysis of the entire clinical research program in AIDS at the National Institutes of Health
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
David Gold
Even before widespread concerns about cryptosporidiosis in the water supply appeared, a report in The Lancet (1994; 343(8906):1137-41) suggested that patients at two hospitals (one in Boston, the other in New Hampshire) may have been infected with mycobacterium avium complex ( MAC ) whil
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
David Gold
New York City residents wishing to be tested for HIV through the Department of Health s anonymous testing program may have to wait as long as ten weeks for an appointment, according to a survey by Chuck Sock of GMHC s Department of Treatment Education and Advocacy. The survey found that waiting times amounted to eight
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
David Gold
More evidence that long-term survivors may have unique viral strains of HIV can be seen in a study published in The Lancet (September 10, 1994, p. 719-20). In the study, a Red Cross transfusion service in Scotland examined rates of disease progression in individuals who were infected through blood transfusions and whos
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
David Gold
In an apparent effort to expand the limited market for d4T ( stavudine ), Bristol-Myers Squibb is initiating a trial of the drug in individuals who have been infected with HIV within the past six months.
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
GMHC Nutrition Counseling Department
Cryptosporidia are single-cell intestinal parasites that cause chronic profuse diarrhea, dull upper abdominal cramps and severe weight loss. This infection can be fatal for people with severely suppressed immune systems. (See Treatment Issues, September 1994, pages 5-6 for an update on cryptosporidiosis.) Removing cryp
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
David Gold
Freewheeling and emotional testimony was the order of the day during a Food and Drug Administration hearing on the Early Availability of Drugs for Serious or Life-Threatening Diseases. The September 12 to 13 event, held under the auspices of the FDA s Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee provided a stage for a wide range
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
Saundra Johnson
The Terry Beirn Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS (CPCRA) has defunded three of its four New York City sites. This action puts in jeopardy New York s ability to offer HIV/AIDS clinical trials to underserved populations, a goal included in the CPCRA mission statement. The CPCRA, which is sponsored by the
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
Gabriel Torres, M.D.
One of the most exciting reports on Kaposi s sarcoma came from Robert Gallo s laboratory at the U.S. National Cancer Institute. As reported in Treatment Issues August edition, Gallo s group observed that nude pregnant mice who had been injected with a KS cell line did not develop tumors during the first trimester of pr
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
Gabriel Torres, M.D.
Opportunistic infections may have received less attention at the Tenth International Conference on AIDS compared to previous conferences, but a number of presentations did yield helpful suggestions for managing advanced HIV disease. Treatments for cytomegalovirus , pneumocystis pneumonia,
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
Craig Sterritt
Researchers have long tried to reconcile the fact that while the activation of CD4 cells is required for effective anti-HIV immune responses, it also leads to increased HIV replication and the susceptibility of uninfected CD4 cells to HIV infection. In addition to facilitating the viral life-cycle, activation of CD4 ce
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
Gabriel Torres, M.D.
The problem of drug-resistant HIV dominated many of the proceedings at the Tenth International Conference on AIDS this August. Existing therapies such as the nucleoside analogs AZT , ddI, ddC and
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 9 - October 1994
>> David Ho, M.D., is the Director of The Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City. Dr. Ho is one of the most respected HIV researchers in the world. In just three and one half years he has built the Aaron Diamond Center into a world-class AIDS research center employing over 60 full time staff. David Gold an
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 8 - September 1994
Donald Kotler
Donald Kotler, M.D., is Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is one of the world s foremost experts on AIDS-related gastrointestinal conditions and weight loss. Over the years he has co-authored more than 100 reports related to AIDS and HIV. His current AIDS rese
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 7 - September 1994
David Gilden
Although the Tenth International Conference on AIDS in Yokohama last month was particularly poor in information about the nutritional aspects of AIDS, researchers did present several significant reports on treating AIDS wasting syndrome. Morris Schambelan, M.D., of the University of California San Francisco described v
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 8 - September 1994
David Pieribone
HIV-associated weight loss, or wasting syndrome, is a major cause of illness and death in patients with late-stage HIV infection. It can be divided into two categories: acute weight loss, which often rebounds after an opportunistic infection is brought under control, and chronic weight loss, which is more difficult to
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 8 - September 1994
David Gold
The Tenth International Conference on AIDS, held in Yokohama, Japan from August 7 to 12, included a total of 709 oral presentations and 2,760 poster presentations. Numerous satellite conferences, community meetings and press conferences also took place. Treatment Issues this month presents an overview of the major trea
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
David Gold
The Treatment Action Group (TAG) has issued The KS Project Report: Current Issues in Research & Treatment of Kaposi Sarcoma. The 85-page document, written by Michael Marco with Martin Majchrowicz, is extremely informative and an impressive example of effective and targeted treatment activism. Copies of the report c
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
David Gold
SUNY at Stony Brook is now enrolling participants for three studies involving the new Merck protease inhibitor. One is a dose escalation study for which previous AZT experience is irrelevant. The other two involve combinations of the Merck drug and either AZT or AZT plus ddI and require participants to have had little
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
David Gold
The FDA temporarily halted enrollment in clinical studies of nevirapine , a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, after results of an early study measuring safety and how the drug was absorbed in the body revealed that three of four HIV-negative women had substantial increases in liver functions te
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
David Gold
Barley green extracts and other green juices are used by many HIV-positive individuals as nutritional supplements. A few reports from Japan suggest that barley green extract may have some beneficial impact on the immune system. [See Treatment Issues, January 1994.] These reports led researchers Mike Barr and Gabriel To
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
David Gold
An initial look at data from an ongoing study of an oral version of ganciclovir reportedly suggests that the drug may help prevent the onset of CMV disease. The study, which enrolled over 700 HIV-positive individuals with less than 50 CD4 cells and a positive CMV viral titer, randomized patients to either 1,000 mg of g
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
David Gold
MGBG, a product developed by Sterling Winthrop, may show promise as a treatment for AIDS- lymphoma , according to a report at the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology held in Dallas from May 14 to 17, 1994 (abstract 11). In the study, led by Alexandra Levine, M.D., of the University of
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
David Gold
A Senate appropriations subcommittee failed to increase the NIH s AIDS research budget. [See Treatment Issues, July 1994.] The subcommittee left research funding at the same level as the House ($38.5 million below President Clinton s request). It also reduced the House s appropriation for AIDS prevention by $37.7 milli
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
Gabriel Torres, M.D. and Dave Gilden
Protease inhibitors, a new class of anti-retrovirals, are about to enter the second phase of clinical development. It is hoped that these drugs will provide a more effective and less toxic alternative to the nucleoside analogs currently in use. There is widespread disappointment in the nucleosides (
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
William Mandell, M.D., Jay Ward Kislak, M.D. and Dennis Karter, M.D.
Travel to developing nations can be enjoyable and enriching. Persons infected with HIV need not deny themselves this experience. It is true that they may encounter germs that are uncommon or unknown in the United States , but their specific risk of acquiring infections may not be greater than for HIV-negative travelers
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
Gabriel Torres, M.D.
People with HIV commonly take several medications at the same time to fight both HIV and its related conditions. These drugs can interact with each other, leading to more toxic side effects and reduced effectiveness. Last month s Treatment Issues (July 1992; volume 8, no. 6) presented the first part of this article, su
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
David Gold
Based on data in animal studies, a pregnancy hormone, Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG), may show promise as a treatment for Kaposi s sarcoma (KS). HCG is produced in the placenta during pregnancy and inhibits the mother s immune system from rejecting the fetus as foreign tissue. It is an approved therapy for treating
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues"; Vol. 8, No. 7 - August 1994
Dave Gilden
The quest to prolong survival in people with AIDS through the use of anti-HIV drugs has been a disappointing one so far. The best such HIV drugs modern medicine has to offer, AZT and the other nucleoside analogs, have benefits that are temporary at best and hard to document precisely. One physician, Marcus Conant,
Researchers in Amsterdam followed 61 HIV-positive men who remained asymptomatic for at least seven years and compared them with 142 men who progressed to AIDS (Journal of Infectious Diseases 1994; 169:1236-43). Long-term asymptomatic HIV infection was associated with high levels of antibodies to HIV core proteins and t
The Food and Drug Administration has cleared the anti-HIV drug d4T (brand name: Zerit ) for marketing less than a month after its Antiviral Advisory Committee gave the drug a general nod of approval [see last month s Treatment Issues].
An AIDS advisory committee at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recommended on June 17, against going ahead with large, phase III efficacy trials of two anti-HIV preventive vaccines. The two vaccines consisted solely of the HIV envelope protein gp120. The panel pointed to the $40 million
Researchers from Cabrini Medical Center in New York City report that four HIV-positive patients given sulfasalazine (SFSZ) had substantial increases in CD4 counts (Journal of Rheumatology 1994; 21:662-664). SFSZ is an approved treatment for a number of autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis. The four patien
People with HIV commonly take several medications at the same time to fight both HIV and its related conditions. These drugs can interact with each other, leading to more toxic side effects and reduced effectiveness. Some drug-drug interactions are related to the way drugs are absorbed by the gastrointestinal system. A
Dr. William Paul is the Director of the Office of AIDS Research (OAR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). On June 15, 1994, Dave Gilden and David Gold of Treatment Issues interviewed Dr. Paul at the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. Dr. Paul was appointed OAR Director earlier this year after Congress passed legislati
An appropriations subcommittee of the House of Representatives recommended a paltry increase of $40.5 million (3.1 percent) for AIDS research in fiscal year 1995 (FY95). This represents a significant reduction from President Clinton s proposed increase of $78 million and is a full percentage point below the biomedical
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 5 - July 1994
Derek Link
Two top federally funded AIDS researchers, Douglas Richman, M.D., of the University of California San Diego, and Lawrence Corey, M.D., of the University of Washington, received warning letters from the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) on May 11, 1994 for their role in clinical studies of FIAC and FIAU. These two cl
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 5 - July 1994
David Gold
The following therapies have been studied or proposed by proponents as treatments for liver disease. They are unapproved in the U.S. and may entail risks of unexpected toxicities or drug interactions. Ribavirin - a nucleoside analog (like AZT , ddI and
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 5 - July 1994
Ian Richardson, T. Melester and David Gold
The liver, a large organ located in the upper right portion of the abdomen, is the body s chemical factory. Disorders of the liver and the associated bile ducts and gall bladder can have serious complications. They involve many organs in the body, all of which depend on the liver s products to support their activity.
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 5 - July 1994
Dave Gilden
Seven years after its approval, we still do not know how to best utilize AZT (zidovudine). At first it seemed the best idea might be to administer as much AZT as possible as early as possible in HIV infection. But the intuitive notions have run up against the complex realities inherent in the interaction between a limi
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 5 - July 1994
Derek Link and Dave Gilden
On Friday, May 20, the FDA s Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee met to consider licensing a new anti-HIV drug, d4T (otherwise known as stavudine or Zerit , the brand name conferred on the
Gay Men's Health Crisis "Treatment Issues", Vol. 8, No. 5 - July 1994
Rick Loftus
Protease inhibitors are a new class of anti-HIV drugs that attack a viral enzyme essential for producing new HIV particles within infected cells. In March, Treatment Issues reviewed many of the protease inhibitors in the more advanced stages of development, including those entering human trials. We now report on some o
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold
March s edition of Treatment Issues incorrectly stated that the on-going trial of Abbott Laboratories lead protease inhibitor, A-84538, required participants to visit the clinic every day for their daily dose. Actually, trial participants will receive a cooler to transport their supply of the drug, which comes in pill
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold
Two studies on depression and disease progression among HIV- positive individuals were recently published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, 1993; 270: 2563- 74). One group of researchers, Lyketsos, et al. from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS), found that depression was not associated wit
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold
A topical formulation of HPMPC, an anti- CMV drug being developed by Gilead Sciences , is now being studied as a treatment for anal and genital warts in HIV-infected patients. The trial is ongoing at three sites: the Conant Medical Group, the University of Washington at Seattle, and the Houston Clinical Research Networ
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold
Isobutyl nitrite inhalers or poppers can reduce the functional ability of T-cells in mice, according to a researcher from the University of Arkansas (Toxicology Letters, February 15, 1994; 70:319-29). Mice in the study were exposed to three doses of isobutyl nitrite (900 parts per million, 600 ppm and 300 ppm) for 45 m
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold
Treatment Issues has received a number of questions regarding the use of hydrogen peroxide as a therapy for HIV. There is no evidence that injecting hydrogen peroxide will provide any benefit for HIV disease and there is some evidence that it is quite dangerous. A recent letter in the Annals of Internal Medicine (April
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold
Pentoxifylline (also called trental) is an approved treatment for a circulation disorder caused by a narrowing of the arteries. The drug is also being used by HIV-infected people based on preliminary data that suggests it reduces tumor necrosis factor (TNF), an immune system protein that may increase HIV replication an
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold
The FDA has allowed a six-patient trial of hyperthermia as a treatment for Kaposi s sarcoma in people with AIDS. Dr. Kenneth Alonso, who conducted hyperthermia on a number of patients, will be overseeing the trial. Dr. Alonso s hyperthermia procedure involves withdrawing blood from the patient, then heating it to 110 d
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold
The Syntex Corp. of Palo Alto, California has announced a program to make oral ganciclovir available to PWAs with CMV who are unable to receive ganciclovir through central catheter due to catheter infections or thrombosis (clotting of veins). Physicians should call 800/569-4630. Activists criticized the open label prog
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold and Dave Gilden
SmithKline s famciclovir received approval as a treatment for shingles (herpes zoster) in England. The drug is priced about eight percent less than acyclovir . Most people expect that the U.S. will approve famciclovir in the near future. Approval will mean greater price competition for zovirax, it is hoped.
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold and Dave Gilden
The Eli Lilly Corporation has announced that it is discontinuing its HIV research. The company is in the midst of restructuring its clinical program. Lilly had worked with Agouron in developing the company s protease inhibitor. Copyright (c) 1994 - GMHC Treatment Issues. Noncommercial reproduction encouraged.
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold and Dave Gilden
A 20-person trial of Viagene s HIV gene therapy product has begun in HIV-infected individuals with CD4 counts between 200 and 500 at the University of California San Diego. Participants will receive three injections over six weeks. The injections contain the participants own cells genetically altered to express HIV pro
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold and Dave Gilden
Officials from Bristol-Myers Squibb met with activists to discuss the company s new drug application for d4T . Bristol officials suggested that the company s AIDS drug development program would be negatively affected if community representatives did not support FDA approval o
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold and Dave Gilden
Hybridon, a Worcester, Massachusetts based biotechnology company, received FDA approval to test its antisense product, GEM-91, which disrupts a sequence on the HIV gag gene essential for constructing the core of new virus particles. Trials are to begin by the end of April at the University of Alabama and will include s
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold and Dave Gilden
Isis Pharmaceuticals of San Diego is reporting encouraging preliminary data on its antisense compound aimed at CMV , blocking a gene necessary for the virus s reproduction. The drug, ISIS 2922, is injected weekly into the patients eyes to arrest CMV retinitis. CMV-associated retinal lesions resolved (leaving inactiv
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold and Dave Gilden
Alan Pardee, M.D., and his group at Harvard University s Dana-Farber Institute has found that the experimental anticancer drug topotecan is also a potent inhibitor in the test tube of HIV replication. General rights to topotecan are owned by its manufacturer, SmithKline Beecham, but Dana- Farber proceeded to file a use
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
Gabriel Torres, M.D.
The Fourth European Conference on Clinical Aspects and Treatment of HIV Infection was held in Milan, Italy on March 16-18, 1994 and was attended by over 2,000 delegates from Europe and the United States . The conference focused on clinical issues in the management of HIV infection and its complications rather than on b
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
Gabriel Torres, M.D.
Delavirdine (also known as U-90152) is a new anti-HIV drug manufactured by Upjohn Company. It belongs to the class of compounds called non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). These compounds block HIV replication by inhibiting the same enzyme, reverse transcriptase, that is blocked by
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
Dave Gilden and Jay Levin
One of the great hurdles that any anti-HIV drug must overcome is the lack of a persistent immune response that combats HIV. A successful antiviral treatment will have to clear the virus from the body in the face of an increasingly dysfunctional immune system. A number of immune modulators have been tested in conjunctio
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
Dave Gilden and David Gold
Low dose oral alpha interferon (LDAI) - including Kemron and similar products - attracted a great deal of attention almost five years ago when Davy Koech, M.D., of Kenya announced a stunning reversal of the AIDS disease process in patients who let lozenges containing the substance dissolve in their mouths. Dr. Koech al
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
Derek Link
The Inter-Company Collaboration for AIDS Drug Development (popularly known as the ICC), a private consortium that includes sixteen major drug companies involved in AIDS research, announced its master protocol for triple-drug combination therapy to a meeting of activists in New York on April 26. According to its chief a
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 3 - May, 1994
Derek Hodel
President Clinton s budget request for fiscal year 1995, which begins this October, was formally presented to Congress in January. As always, the administration claimed that the budget is a difficult balancing act among competing needs, ever growing entitlement programs and a Congressional mandate to lower the federal
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 3 - May, 1994
Derek Hodel
The new director of the National Institutes of Health Office of AIDS Research (OAR), William E. Paul, M.D., is regarded as among the world s leading immunologists. His appointment was greeted with enthusiasm in many quarters, from scientists to activists to Congress. AIDS research advocates have long been frustrated by
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 3 - May, 1994
David Gold
The Community Research Initiative on AIDS (CRIA) is enrolling patients in trials for two experimental anti-HIV drugs - nevirapine and delavirdine . Both drugs are non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Nevirapine is being developed by Boehringer Ingelheim Phar
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 3 - May, 1994
David Gold
Glaxo Holdings received FDA approval to provide its anti-HIV nucleoside analog 3TC (also called lamivudine) to adults and children who have CD4 counts of less than 300. Eligible individuals must have failed or be intolerant to approved anti-HIV therapies. They also must be unable to qualify for ongoing clin
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 3 - May, 1994
David Gold
Mothers Voices, a New York-based organization of mothers committed to fighting AIDS, is organizing a campaign to send thousands of Mother s Day cards to Congress and the President demanding more money for AIDS research. Each card has space for 30 names and addresses. The cards, which state that Mother s Day can never b
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 3 - May, 1994
David Gold
Researchers at the University of Alabama surveyed twenty health food stores and asked, what do you recommend for AIDS? and what are the monthly costs of such products? According to this study, the most commonly recommended products include ginseng (nine stores, at an average of $63.64 per month), goldenseal (three stor
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 3 - May, 1994
Theo Smart
There is a critical need for alternatives to amphotericin B as a treatment for such life-threatening fungal infections as cryptococcal meningitis. Commonly referred to as ampho- terrible due to its severe side effects, amphotericin is also used to treat fungal infections that are resistant to other antifungal drugs, su
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 3 - May, 1994
Michael A. Poles, M.D., Edward A. Lew, M.D., and Douglas T. Dieterich, M.D.
Cytomegalovirus ( CMV ), a member of the group of human herpes viruses, is responsible for a wide range of diseases affecting patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Currently it is the most common viral infection in this population.[1] Approximately 80 to 90 percent of individuals with AIDS are infect
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 3 - May, 1994
Gabriel Torres, M.D.
The Fourth European Conference on Clinical Aspects and Treatment of HIV Infection was held in Milan, Italy on March 16 to 18, 1994. The conference focused on clinical issues in the management of HIV infection and its complications. This article will highlight anti-viral therapies. Next month we will report on studies i
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 2 - April, 1994
Dave Gilden
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced last month that it was prematurely terminating its study testing AZT to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV during pregnancy. An interim analysis of the study, known as ACTG 076, found that AZT therapy had reduced such transmission by about two- thirds compared
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 2 - April, 1994
Kevin Robert Frost
Researchers from two studies recently reported in Washington, D.C. that an oral form of ganciclovir was equivalent to intravenous ganciclovir as a maintenance therapy for CMV retinitis.[1,2] These widely publicized reports caused understandable excitement, given that the two drugs currently approved for CMV (
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 2 - April, 1994
Dr. P. Roy Vagelos is the Chairman of Merck & Co, Inc., the world s largest pharmaceutical company. He is considered to be among the most influential leaders in American business. Dr. Vagelos has made the development of effective anti-HIV drugs a corporate goal at Merck and helped form the Inter- Company Collaborat
Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 2 - April, 1994
Dave Gilden
This article was compiled by Dave Gilden with the assistance of Ben Cheng, Rick Loftus and others. Much of the information contained below was obtained through private conversations with company sources who did not want to be identified. Protease inhibitors are the one class of new, promising anti- HIV therapies likely
The British Medical Journal (307:1399, 1993) reports two cases of individuals who became mute and catatonic (a psychomotor disturbance characterized by periods of physical rigidity, excitement, and stupor) after taking Ecstasy (MDMA), an illicit recreational drug. (See Treatment Issues, October 1993 for a review of the
The New York Blood Center has initiated a study to determine whether a large scale trial of vaccines to prevent HIV infection would be feasible in sexually active gay men. The feasibility study will provide regular HIV antibody testing and counseling for HIV risk reduction. No drugs or vaccines will be administered as
The New York State AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) has added two new drugs to their list of reimbursable AIDS therapies. They are ocreatide acetate (sandostatin) and cyprohetadine Hcl (Periactin). In addition, ADAP also provides reimbursement for nutritional assessment and counseling by a trained dietician or regis
Dr. Patrick Hennessey s office is conducting a trial of thymopentin (TP5) in asymptomatic, HIV-positive individuals with between 200 to 400 CD4 cells. The trial will compare TP5 plus antiretroviral therapy ( AZT ) versus antiretroviral therapy alone. Exclusion criteria include thrus
Diets high in fish may negatively impact the immune system, according to a report in The Journal of Clinical Investigation (July 1993; 92:105-113). Researchers from Tufts University studied the effects of high fish diets on healthy HIV-negative individuals. In the study, 22 people were given a standard six week diet an
Earlier this year, a Public Health Task Force recommended rifabutin prophylaxis in HIV-infected individuals with less than 100 CD4 cells for the prevention of MAC . However, some physicians have been reluctant to initiate MAC prophyaxis. Judith Feinberg, a physician and researcher at Johns Hopkins University, provides
Prophylaxis with TMP/SMX (Bactrim or Septra) may also reduce the incidence of bacterial infections, according to a letter published in AIDS (November 1993;7:1687-8). TMP/SMX is the first choice for PCP prophylaxis and may also prevent Toxoplasma gondii. The study, which was conducted at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New
Sexually active gay men who are uncircumcised have a two-fold increased risk of HIV infection, according to a study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases (December 1993; 168:1404-8). Researchers from the University of Washington surveyed 502 gay men, 85 percent of whom were circumcised. The increased HIV risk
Condoms should be available in a wide range of sizes to account for differences in penis size, according to a report in the British Medical Journal (October 16, 1993;307:987). The researchers, from Guy s Hospital in London, questioned 281 men and found that condom tightness is an important factor in their failure and c
Four major computerized reference sources for AIDS-related information are now available free of charge. The four are operated by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and formerly cost $18 per hour to access. The four databases now available for free are AIDSLINE, AIDSTRIALS, AIDSDRUGS and DIRLINE. AIDSLINE is a comp
This article reviews research about HIV-related opportunistic infections presented at the 33rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) held on October 17-20, 1993 in New Orleans and the Seventeenth Meeting of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) held December 4-6, 1993 in Washington, D
Results from the first controlled, phase II trial of Peptide T show that the widely used underground drug is not effective in controlling pain associated with HIV-related peripheral neuropathy . Background of Peptide T Peptide T, created in 1986 at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), was one of the first d
Interleukin-2 ( IL-2 ) therapy can produce dramatic increases in levels of CD4 and CD8 cells in many HIV-infected patients, according to preliminary data presented at The First National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections. However, researchers are still unsure as to whether these increases have any
The First National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections was held on December 12-16, 1993 in Washington, DC. The conference provided an impressive array of researchers in a somewhat intimate surrounding. Much of the program focused on HIV antivirals, immune therapies, and basic science. More limited a
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.