From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 09:14:19 -0400 (EDT) AIDS Daily Summary April 28, 1994 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 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD "Wellcome 'Price Cut' in Aids Drug War" Financial Times (04/28/94) P. 7; Wise, Peter Wellcome slashed the cost of its AIDS drug AZT by 56 percent in Portugal, where a small pharmaceutical firm marketed a cheaper version of zidovudine in a challenge to Wellcome's worldwide patents. The Portuguese company, Farma APS, beat Wellcome out for a contract to supply the drug to Sao Joao Hospital in Oporto, said the company's director-general, Augusto Paiva dos Santos. Farma sells a Canadian-manufactured version of the drug, called Apo-Zidovudine, at 33 percent below Wellcome's previous price. Paiva dos Santos said that Wellcome had cut the price of Retrovir, its version of zidovudine, by 50 percent and 56 percent, respectively, in bids for two other Portuguese hospital contracts that have yet to be awarded. "The fact that Wellcome has lowered its prices to less than half of what it is charging in the rest of Europe shows it must be making a fabulous profit on AZT," Paiva dos Santos commented. But he said his company's prices were still lower than those tendered by the British rival. He also said Farma APS may register Apo-Zidovudine for sale in other European Union countries, as well as in Eastern Europe. "AIDS Activists Confront Mayor, Officials" Baltimore Sun (04/28/94) P. 2B; Selby, Holly ACT-UP activists in Baltimore rallied before City Hall, interrupted a meeting of the Board of Estimates, chained themselves to the doors of the health department, and called for the resignation of a health official yesterday in action that yielded a promise from Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke to consider their complaints about the city's AIDS programs. The organization's main grievance is that the city's poor maintenance of records results in the loss of desperately needed federal dollars for AIDS programs. Noting that funding partly depends on current statistics, ACT-UP blames the health department for falling behind on new AIDS cases. John Stuban, a member of the group, told the Board of Estimates that job vacancies prevent the city from keeping pace. "You have a bureaucracy in the health department that refuses to deal with these problems before they become crises," he said. "These positions need to be filled." Three to five health department positions in AIDS surveillance have been vacant for up to four months. City Health Commissioner Peter Beilenson said the department is actively recruiting people for the positions, which should be filled within the next two to four weeks. Mayor Schmoke agreed to meet with ACT-UP members, as well as city and community health professionals, within a week. "1,200 Students Learn Facts About AIDS in UCLA's Most Popular Class" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (04/28/94) P. B3; Dundjerski, Marina At a time when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies the college-age population as one of the fastest-growing categories at risk for HIV infection, students are seeking awareness with a heightened sense of urgency. "AIDS and Other Sexually Transmitted Diseases," the most popular course at UCLA, fulfills this need for the 1,200 students enrolled in it. The class was first offered in 1989 as a series of various visiting lecturers, and only a dozen students signed up for it. Five years later, with a new instructor and format, the class size has surged. It is so big, in fact, that the administration was prompted to set up the campus' Grand Ballroom as a makeshift classroom to accommodate student demand. "I consider this the most important class I teach," said biology Professor Roger Bohman. "Because students are sexually active, AIDS is very immediate to them, and I'd like them to appreciate the importance of the AIDS epidemic." About 85 percent of the course material focuses on AIDS, covering fears and stereotypes, historical perspectives, and related scientific and social issues. "Discovering a Film Idol's Clay Feet" New York Times (04/28/94) P. C20; Riding, Alan Cyril Collard's transformation into a cult figure began on March 8, 1993, when his film "Savage Nights" won four Cesars--the French equivalent to America's Academy Awards. Collard was not present to receive the honors, for he had died three days earlier, at the age of 35, from AIDS. The film itself was a semiautobiographical offering about a bisexual filmmaker who has unprotected sex with his girlfriend without telling her about his HIV infection. For many young viewers, the movie was not a cautionary tale, but a message that love conquers all. The romantic aura that has surrounded Collard for the past year, however, has been punctured by reports that a former girlfriend whom he allegedly infected with HIV has died. The young woman was Erica Prou, granddaughter of novelist Suzanne Prou, and she died of AIDS in November at age 26. With her death, suddenly France was seeing Collard from a different perspective. "When the media turns Cyril Collard and the behavior he extolled into a form of heroism and a role model for youth, it is clear where the responsibility lies," said one writer, Alain Griotteray. Another writer, Dominique Jamet, called the actor-director a "irresponsible" criminal. Collard's parents flew to their son's defense, calling the allegations "monstrous," and pointing out that when Collard was involved with Prou--in 1984--AIDS tests did not exist and little was known about the disease. With France now reporting the highest number of AIDS cases in Europe, Health Minister Philippe Douste Blazy said he hoped people who saw "Savage Nights" had not concluded that there was no purpose to condom use. "It is very serious to portray a moral act as a hymn to love," he said. "AIDS Group Presses Case for Drug Fund" Toronto Globe and Mail (04/27/94) P. A7 Canadian AIDS activists on Tuesday disrupted the Ontario Legislature, unfurling a banner and throwing fake money into the chamber. After he and other protesters were escorted from the building by security guards, James Farlinger, co-chairman of the AIDS Action Now coalition, told reporters that the demonstration was a reminder to the government of its pledge to provide a drug-funding program for people with catastrophic illnesses. "We need action now," he declared. "Every day there is further delay, people are not accessing the drugs they need to keep themselves healthy." It is common for HIV patients to spend $2,000 a month to obtain the medications they need, and the government should provide a drug-funding program for them, said Farlinger. Reporters were later told by Premier Bob Rae that the government has been working hard to see what it can do for AIDS patients and other people whose illnesses require expensive drug treatment. "FDA Approves Clinical Trial of Hyperthermia" Washington Blade (04/22/94) Vol. 25, No. 16, P. 29 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 29 approved a clinical trial of a controversial HIV treatment known as hyperthermia. Within two months, IDT Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pa., is expected to begin a "feasibility study" testing hyperthermia in 10 patients. The treatment involves removing the blood from an HIV patient, heating it to about 110 degrees to kill the virus, then returning the blood to the patient. Officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said there was no value in the treatment, and that no further research was necessary. But Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) says he has met with NIH and FDA officials to push for hyperthermia research. "Antiviral d4T to be Approved" AIDS Alert (04/94) Vol. 9, No. 4, P. 61 The antiviral d4T, a nucleoside in the same class of drugs as AZT, ddI, and ddC, is expected to be approved this year, reports Susan J. Yarin, spokeswoman for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., which manufactures Zerit, a brand name version of the drug. Currently, d4T is available only as part of the Food and Drug Administration's Parallel Track Program for patients who cannot tolerate the drug, or for whom other therapies have failed. Nearly 11,000 HIV/AIDS patients have received d4T through the program at no charge; however, data on the trials will not be available until later this year, says Yarin. "NAC, Glutathione and HIV--San Francisco, May 7" AIDS Treatment News (04/15/94) No. 197, P. 8 Researchers at Herzenberg Laboratory at Stanford University are currently coordinating a trial to research the use of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as a potential treatment for HIV. The theory behind the studies is that glutathione levels in the cells are known to be abnormally low in many HIV patients. This low level of glutathione may cripple the antioxidant defense of the cells, and the oxidative stress that results may also stimulate the growth of HIV. Some have proposed NAC as an efficient means of increasing glutathione levels but, because others question whether it is adequately absorbed, use of NAC remains controversial. ACT-UP/San Francisco will sponsor a talk on Saturday, May 7, by Dr. Leonore Herzenberg of Stanford's Genetics Department, who will present recent research regarding the use of NAC as a potential treatment for HIV infection. "Slower Heterosexual Spread of HIV-2 Than HIV-1" Lancet (04/16/94) Vol. 343, No. 8903, P. 943; Kanki, Phyllis J.; Travers, Karin U.; Chung-Cheng, Hsieh et al. Because HIV-2 has similar virological characteristics to HIV-1, this virus type was assumed to be just as infectious and capable of causing AIDS. Studies have identified significant rates of HIV-2 infection in West Africa, and surveys from other regions of the world indicate that HIV-2 infection continues to spread. Because the pathogenic potential of HIV-2 is considered to be lower than that of HIV-1, it is therefore important to recognize the transmission properties of HIV-2 and its contribution to the AIDS pandemic. Since 1985, Kanki et al. have studied 1,452 registered female prostitutes. The overall incidence of HIV-1 and HIV-2 was identical during the study; however, the annual incidence of HIV-1 increased substantially with a 12-fold increase in risk over the entire study period. The incidence of HIV-2, on the other hand, remained stable despite a higher prevalence of HIV-2. In Kanki et al.'s sample population, the heterosexual spread of HIV-2 is significantly slower than that of HIV-1, which strongly suggests differences in the viruses' infectivity potential.