From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary October 28, 1993 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD "Eat Out so That AIDS Victims Can Eat In" Baltimore Sun (10/28/93) P. 1E (Corey, Mary) On Thursday night, 40 or so Baltimore-area restaurants will take part in "Dining Out for Life," an event to raise money for an AIDS food service. Regi's, Gampy's, and Mick's are a few of the participating restaurants that will donate 20 percent of the money from dinner bills this evening to Moveable Feast, a meal delivery program for homebound AIDS patients. Last year, the first time it was held, the fundraiser collected $12,000, which enabled the organization to increase food delivery service from three to five times weekly. Moveable Feast is a five-member staff which feeds over 100 people each day in the Baltimore area. More than 15,000 meals were served in 1992 alone, and the organization is expanding next month to include Howard County, says event co-chair Bryan Stark. "It's such an easy way to help, especially if you're concerned about AIDS," he says. "You get to feel good about eating out that evening, and it doesn't cost you a thing." Some restaurants have opted to give even more than the 20 percent. The Mt. Vernon Stable & Saloon, for instance, will contribute 50 percent of its dinner sales, while the wait staff will donate half of its tips for the cause. "MBTA Rejects New Condom Campaign" Boston Globe (10/27/93) P. 21 (Kong, Dolores) With the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) second rejection of paid condom ads in little more than a year, the state's largest AIDS organization has accused the system of censorship and will sue. The MBTA has declined to accept the ads for fear they may be offensive, but the Massachusetts AIDS Action Committee contends that the transit authority is currently running movie posters for "Fatal Instinct" that are sexually suggestive and more offensive than the proposed condom ads, which feature wrapped prophylactics and catchy phrases promoting safe sex. MBTA officials say they are not censoring the ads--they merely want the wording toned down. "We're not apologizing for the signage," says Larry Kessler, executive director of the committee. "They're direct and clever. They're certainly not obscene." MBTA General Manager John Haley, however, justifies the rejection, noting that passengers vary in age from two months to 90 years old. "We've got to make some judgments as to what is appropriate," he says, adding that some of the condom ads "just go to far." Sarah Wunsch, a staff attorney for the Massachusetts Civil Liberties Union, filed suit Tuesday against the MBTA on behalf of the AIDS committee. "It's our contention that they're violating the First Amendment and the state's constitutional right to free speech," she says. "Court Ruling, AIDS Vote Cause Outcry in France" Reuters (10/27/93) Paris--A court ruling in an AIDS lawsuit and a parliamentary vote on HIV testing Wednesday triggered outrage in France. In the northern town of Metz, Judge Margareth Stagier placed a mother and father under investigation for failing to caution their daughter's boyfriend about her HIV-positive status. The man, identified only as Fabien, became infected with the virus and sued the girl, who was placed under investigation last year for suspected poisoning. "If [the parents] had warned my client, he would not have been infected with the deadly virus," attested Marie Laurence Folmer, Fabien's attorney. Stagier's decision drew immediate criticism from the magistrates' union, which denounced the ruling as a irresponsible, brutal, and dangerous interference and accused Stagier of overstepping her limits in an area best left to public health authorities. Human rights activists said the judge's ruling could cause HIV-infected individuals to hide their condition from family and have "a clandestine sex life." The second incident, the Senate vote Tuesday night for mandatory testing for the AIDS virus of all tuberculosis patients, also drew widespread condemnation. Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy called the amendment dangerous. "Arena's Bold AIDS Play Focuses on Home, Family" Baltimore Sun (10/28/93) P. 4E (Rousuck, J. Wynn) The nation's oldest continuously operating black community theater will present a play that revolves around something that African-Americans are becoming all too familiar with--AIDS. Cheryl West's "Before It Hits Home," the first major drama to portray the effect of the deadly disease among blacks, imparts much essential information about AIDS but focuses especially on nature, home, and the limitations of familial love. The script is bold in its language, depiction of the disease, and treatment of the lead character's bisexuality. The play itself centers around jazz sax player Wendal Bailey, who discovers he has AIDS and tells his male lover, but cannot bring himself to confront his girlfriend. Partner notification, thus, becomes an important theme and lesson of the play. Weak and discouraged, the protagonist visits home, where his mother abandons him when he needs her most and his father, who has always complained of his son's shortcomings, dishes out unconditional love. "Before It Hits Home" is being staged by the Arena Players in Baltimore, Md., through Nov. 14. "Targeted Genetics Corp.: HIV-Killing Cells Used as Experimental Gene Therapy" PR Newswire (10/25/93) Seattle--Targeted Genetics Corp. announced the start of a gene therapy trial for a potential HIV treatment called adoptive immunotherapy in which genetically modified cells specifically recognize and destroy HIV-infected cells. These "killer" T-cells will be isolated, modified to contain a special suicide gene, expanded to several billion cells, then reinfused back into the patient. Ideally, the process will enhance the immune system's ability to combat HIV symptoms. "People who are HIV-positive face continuous depletion of killer T-cells which they need to fight infection," said Dr. Philip D. Greenberg of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, a co-director of the study. "With this approach, we hope to decrease or eliminate stores of latent HIV, increase the body's ability to fight the virus, and perhaps shut down the virus producing factory." Fifteen participants will receive four infusions at two week intervals at increasing cell doses, with follow up continuing for 13 months. The trial is designed to evaluate antiviral effects and safety. "Over 2,300 German AIDS Cases From HIV-Infected Blood" United Press International (10/22/93) Berlin--The Federal Health Office (BGA) in Berlin announced last week that a total of 2,305 Germans became infected with the AIDS virus after receiving contaminated blood and pharmaceutical products. The BGA said there are currently 60,000 known cases of HIV infection in Germany, and that three-fourths of those involve homosexuals. The BGA, an arm of the German Federal Health Ministry, will be disassembled in response to scandal over alleged misconduct in the handling of HIV-infected blood in the 1980s. "Sheffield Medical Technologies and Johns Hopkins Collaborate on Clinical Development of AIDS Therapeutic; Planning Underway for RBC-CD4 Phase IIA Clinical Trial" Business Wire (10/25/93) Houston--Sheffield Medical Technologies Inc. announced that Johns Hopkins University will conduct a double-blinded, Phase II clinical trial of Sheffield's red blood cell(RBC)-CD4 Complex in 12 HIV-infected patients. The study is designed to evaluate the antiviral activity of the RBC-CD4 Complex on viral load and to determine the safety and tolerability of recombinant full-length CD4 electroinserted into red blood cells. "Given the lack of toxicity demonstrated in Phase I and the positive results of in vitro patient isolate studies, we are optimistic that the RBC-CD4 electroinsertion technology may offer a new mode of therapy for physicians to provide their patients," said Dr. Claude Nicolau, co-inventor of the technology, visiting professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Blood Research and Development Laboratory at the Center for Blood Research Laboratories Inc. "AmFar President to Speak in Wooster" United Press International (10/26/93) Wooster, Ohio--The president of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFar) will deliver a lecture on "Youth and AIDS" on Thursday, Oct. 28, at the 1993-94 Wooster Forum. As one of the country's top public health authorities, Dr. Mervyn Silverman has been active in the battle against AIDS since the onslaught of the epidemic. Silverman previously served as medical director of Planned Parenthood in Kansas, director of the Federal Drug Administration's Office of Consumer Affairs, and regional medical program director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific for the Peace Corps. As director of the San Francisco Department of Health from 1977-85, Silverman was key in launching a city-wide campaign to combat the rapidly growing AIDS epidemic. His presentation is the fourth lecture in a series at the Forum, and is free and open to the public. "Agouron Reports Novel Anti-HIV Compounds" PR Newswire (10/20/93) La Jolla, Calif.--At a recent New Orleans conference on antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. unveiled the chemical structure of a novel class of chemical compounds that may inhibit a key enzyme required for HIV replication and which may, consequently, block HIV infection of T-cells in vitro. Agouron scientist Dr. Krzysztof Appelt described how each new compound in the series fits into an "active site" on the surface of the enzyme HIV protease. The Agouron research team achieved a 60,000-fold enhancement in the potency of the first compound. That resulted in a compound called AG1284, which inactivated the enzyme with a potency equal to that of the most potent inhibitors of HIV protease. "We are encouraged and excited by the preclinical research results reported today in New Orleans," said Agouron President and CEO Peter Johnson, "but we wish to sound a general caution against premature expectations for anti-HIV agents based solely upon preclinical data." "Ross Prepares Launch of Beverage for AIDS Patients" Adweek--Eastern Edition (10/18/93) Vol. 34, No. 42, P. 9 (Riddle, Judith Springer) Ross Products, a division of Abbott Laboratories, plans to target the health care profession in a print advertising and public relations blitz to market a nutritional drink formulated expressly to meet the dietary needs of people with HIV/AIDS. The beverage, known as Advera, is fortified with vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients. High in calories for weight management and high in protein to maintain lean body mass, the drink professes to boost the immune system, reduce repeated hospitalization, and sustain life. Advera will be sold in six-pack cans of chocolate or orange creme-flavored drinks at an estimated price of $20. It will likely be covered by third-party plans. The recommended dosage will be three eight-ounce cans each day. Advertising and marketing a product such as Advera raises thorny issues such as sensitivity and product credibility. Companies "selling products to people with HIV and AIDS have to deal with the confidentiality issue and maintaining their customer's dignity," cautioned Michael Goff, editor and president of the gay publication Out. "If the product doesn't do what it says it will do, it will immediately be exposed. These people are very savvy customers who are interested in their health care," he said. Print ads break next month in healthcare trade journals. "AIDS Digest: Genetic 'Antisense' Drug Enters Human Testing" Washington Blade (10/22/93) Vol. 24, No. 45, P. 29 Massachusetts-based drug company Hybridon announced the recent kick-off of a clinical trial to test a new drug that interferes with the genetic code of HIV. France's National Agency for the Fight Against AIDS is co-sponsoring the trial of GEM 91, a so-called "antisense" molecule. While other anti-HIV drugs attack the virus enzyme known as reverse transcriptase, the antisense drug attacks the "gag" protein on HIV's messenger, RNA, a copy of the DNA that the AIDS virus uses to replicate. By directly attacking the genetic code of HIV, the antisense molecule may overcome one of the major obstacles in current HIV treatment: the ability of the virus to build resistance to AZT, ddI, and other lab drugs. Lab tests have shown that the antisense molecule can prevent replication in a variety of HIV strains. The study of the 24 patients who are receiving drug injections will determine the safety and tolerability of the drug. ------- End of Forwarded Message