Date: Wed, 14 Dec 1994 13:44:41 -0500 From: awilson@smtpinet.aspensys.com (Wilson, Anne) AIDS Daily Summary December 14, 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 ************************************************************ "Nationline: AIDS Lawsuit" "The Reliable Source" "Isis Begins Phase III Clinical Trials of Antisense Compound to Treat CMV Retinitis in Patients with AIDS" "Inquiry May Be Costing Blood, Red Cross Says" "Boston Biomedica, Inc. Awarded World-Wide License to Anti-AIDS Compounds" "Verex Options Drug to Burroughs Wellcome" "New Magazine for HIV Positive Readers" "Hypopyon Uveitis in Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Treated for Systemic Mycobacterium Avium Complex Infection with Rifabutin" Learning about HIV-2" "AIDS Activist Blames Partisanship for Lack of Progress" ************************************************************ "Nationline: AIDS Lawsuit" USA Today (12/14/94) P. 3A; Leavitt, Paul Arvin Peterson's claim that he got AIDS from a pork sandwich at a Huntington Park McDonald's in 1992 was rejected by a Los Angeles jury. Peterson, who is HIV-positive, claimed the McRib sandwich contained shigella bacteria that reduced his T-cell count. The jury was deadlocked on the two issues--which will be retried--of whether the McDonald's store violated health or safety rules and whether it destroyed evidence. "The Reliable Source" Washington Post (12/14/94) P. C3; Romano, Lois While in Portugal on behalf of a local AIDS charity, the Duchess of York revealed that she had been tested three times for HIV--once before her marriage to Prince Andrew and before getting pregnant with each of her two daughters. "People must be more open about the disease. It seems to me that the slogan 'The treatment for AIDS is education' would be appropriate," she commented to the Lisbon daily Diario de Noticias. "Isis Begins Phase III Clinical Trials of Antisense Compound to Treat CMV Retinitis in Patients with AIDS" PR Newswire (12/14/94) Isis Pharmaceuticals is initiating Phase III clinical trials of ISIS 2922, an antisense compound to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV)-induced retinitis in AIDS patients. If not treated, CMV retinitis can cause permanent retinal damage and blindness. A product of collaboration between Isis and Eisai Company, Ltd., ISIS 2922 inhibits the CMV messenger RNA (mRNA) which controls the virus' life cycle. The trials will involve two study designs--one comparing immediate ISIS 2922 therapy with delayed therapy, and the other comparing treatment with ISIS 2922 in combination with ganciclovir to ganciclovir alone. The results of the Phase I/II clinical trial that were presented at the International AIDS Conference in Yokohama, Japan, showed that ISIS 2922 was well-tolerated by the patients in the trial and that a majority of the participants experienced rapid remission of their CMV retinitis. "Inquiry May Be Costing Blood, Red Cross Says" Toronto Globe and Mail (12/13/94) P. A8; Coutts, Jane Dr. Roslyn Herst, director of the Red Cross blood center in Toronto, said on Monday that the Canadian Red Cross is short of blood and that the attention being focused on the issue in the Krever Commission inquiry may be one of the factors reducing the flow. "Perhaps some of the information out of Krever is confusing the general public...They may have doubts about the blood supply as a whole," she said. The Krever recommendation that blood use should be curtailed may also be to blame. The panel that prepared the safety audit cited eliminating overuse of blood as the single most important change that could be made to increase the safety of the blood system. Dr. Peter Pinkerton, director of the Sunnybrook Health Science Center blood bank, said that present blood supplies are low enough that elective surgery could pose a problem. While the Red Cross Toronto center usually collects about 800 units of blood a day, current donations are in the range of only 650 to 700 units a day. "Boston Biomedica, Inc. Awarded World-Wide License to Anti-AIDS Compounds" PR Newswire (12/13/94) Boston Biomedica, Inc. (BBI) has been awarded the world-wide exclusive license to six anti-AIDS compounds by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). The compounds were recently discovered in a collaborative study between Biotech Research Laboratories--a subsidiary of BBI--and UNC-CH to test large numbers of plant derivatives for anti-HIV activity. The six compounds have all shown significant anti-HIV-1 activity in vitro and are potential therapeutic agents which could be used to fight AIDS. "The early phase of identifying and purifying these high anti-HIV activity compounds has now been completed. The next phase of this work will require more extensive follow-up of their biological activity to evaluate them for suitability as potential new anti-AIDS drugs," said Dr. K.H. Lee, the Director of the Natural Products Laboratory at UNC-CH. "Verex Options Drug to Burroughs Wellcome" PR Newswire (12/13/94) Verex Laboratories Inc. entered into an agreement with Burroughs Wellcome Co. on Nov. 30, 1994, in which Verex granted Wellcome an option to obtain an exclusive worldwide license to a controlled release rate formulation of zidovudine (AZT) developed by Verex called Aztec. For an option fee, Wellcome has received the right of first refusal to acquire a license to make, have made, use, sell, and sublicense Aztec. Wellcome is also able to obtain without limitation information concerning research and testing on Aztec. According to the agreement, Verex must provide Wellcome with various evaluation data to help Wellcome further assess the Aztec controlled release rate zidovudine product. Aztec, which stands for AZT Efficiently Controlled, is being studied at sites around the United States in the treatment of people with HIV or AIDS. "New Magazine for HIV Positive Readers" Reuters (12/13/94); Schoolman, Judith POZ, a new magazine designed for readers with HIV or AIDS and their families and friends, deals with the realities of living with HIV infection and AIDS. It is "a broadscope general consumer magazine, but one with an AIDS spin to it," says editor Richard Perez-Feria. The brainchild of publisher Sean Strub, who has been living with AIDS for 14 years, POZ's goal is to dispel myths about HIV and AIDS. Although many people with AIDS in the United States are homosexual men, Perez-Feria describes POZ as having an "omni-sexual orientation." Anyone who contacts the magazine and identifies themselves as HIV-infected will receive free issues of POZ, he says. "Hypopyon Uveitis in Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Treated for Systemic Mycobacterium Avium Complex Infection with Rifabutin" Journal of the American Medical Association (12/07/94) Vol. 272, No. 21, P. 1636p Iridocyclitis is a dosage-dependent side effect in AIDS patients being treated for Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection with systemic rifabutin. In a retrospective study, researchers reviewed seven cases of acute hypopyon uveitis imitating infectious endophthalmitis in AIDS patients to determine whether there was an association. Each of the patients was receiving treatment for MAC infection with rifabutin and clarithromycin. Microbiological investigations showed negative results in five patients. While hypopyon developed in the contralateral eye in five patients, iridocyclitis became bilateral in all seven. The hypopyon cleared up quickly with intensive topical corticosteroid therapy. The researchers concluded that the use of rifabutin, clarithromycin, and fluconazole concomitantly may precipitate hypopyon uveitis in AIDS patients being treated for MAC infection. "Learning about HIV-2" Lancet (11/19/94) Vol. 344, No. 8934, P. 1380; O'Shaughnessy, Michael V.; Schechter, Martin T. Although HIV-1 and HIV-2 are related, the molecular organizations of the two viruses are different and their genetic homology is modest, write O'Shaughnessy et al in a letter to the editor. In comparison to HIV-1, HIV-2 has lower rates of sexual and perinatal transmission, lower cell killing, lower viral burdens, more gradual CD4 cell loss, slower rates of progression to AIDS and death, and relative geographical confinement. Although relatively little is known about why the two viruses act differently, HIV-2 may provide a useful model in the efforts to control HIV-1. Greater understanding of the structure and function relationships of the viral genes that are critical to the disease process may be derived from studies focusing on the two viruses' genetic differences. Because there are no perfect models with which to study HIV, one must exercise caution in extrapolating results to HIV-1. The use of transgenic mice and in-vitro studies of genetically altered HIV-1 variants should also be pursued because they may provide insight into tranmissability and pathogenicity. "AIDS Activist Blames Partisanship for Lack of Progress" Nation's Health (11/94) Vol. 24, No. 10, P. 7 As the 103rd Congress came to a close, AIDS advocates lamented its list of unfinished business. "Despite some gains in AIDS funding, partisan politics kept much AIDS-related legislation from making significant advances," said Daniel Bross, executive director of the AIDS Action Council. Lobbyists for the group say they worked twice as hard this year for modest funding gains in light of the new budget constraints. Next year--when the new Congress will be more fiscally and idealogically conservative--will be more difficult, added Bross.