Date: Thu, 03 Feb 1994 09:15:19 -0500 (EST) From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" Subject: CDC AIDS DAILY SUMMARY 02/03/94 AIDS Daily Summary February 03, 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 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD "The Cost of a Cure" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (02/03/94) P. B5 (Olmos, David R.) Several years ago, investors bombarded biotechnology companies conducting AIDS research in the hopes that science would soon yield a vaccine or cure for the disease. As promising avenues of research have hit dead-ends--making it clear that the battle to defeat AIDS will be a long one--optimism has waned. The discouragement and disappointment has had an impact on start-up biotechnology companies involved in AIDS research, many of which are now experiencing difficulty in generating capital. Many established firms have been prompted to form joint ventures with major pharmaceutical companies to help finance research efforts. In fact, 15 pharmaceutical companies--frustrated by the lack of progress in AIDS research--announced last year that they would pool their research in an effort to accelerate the drug-development process. But executives at some stalled biotechnology firms warn that, if the investment climate does not improve soon, some companies will be forced to reduce or eliminate AIDS-related research. "There is a great deal of hesitancy to invest" in AIDS research, says Martin Delaney of Project Inform, an AIDS treatment information and lobbying group. "The promise of quick profits is not as realistic as everyone once thought." "Study Finds Babies of Sick AIDS Mothers Die Faster" Reuters (02/02/94) Boston--Newborns who contract HIV through their mothers during pregnancy are more apt to sicken and die if the mother develops AIDS-related illnesses by the time of delivery, doctors in Paris have discovered. Researchers at the French Pediatric Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Study Group found that babies born to women with AIDS illnesses were three and a half times more likely to develop their own AIDS-related infections than were infants born to mothers who were infected with HIV only. The children were also four and a half times more likely to die within 18 months. While half of babies born to mothers with AIDS quickly became ill themselves, only 14 percent sickened when the mothers were HIV-positive, but exhibiting no serious symptoms of AIDS. "Our data show a clear relation between maternal characteristics at the time of delivery and the course of HIV disease in infants," said the research team, which could offer no reason for the disparity. "Woman Dies After Patient-To-Patient AIDS Transfer" Reuters (02/02/94) Sydney, Australia--The 79-year-old Australian grandmother who represents the first case of patient-to-patient transmission of HIV has died, says her lawyer, Anne Farrell. The grandmother, known as "Case B," and three other women became infected in a Sydney doctor's office in 1989 after undergoing minor skin surgery. Although the method of transmission is still unclear, authorities do know that the doctor had treated an HIV-positive male patient before operating on the four women. Last December, the grandmother initiated legal action against the doctor, claiming that the virus had been transmitted due to the doctor's use of unsterilized instruments and syringes, or a multidose vial of anesthetic. The doctor, who has ceased to practice of his own accord, said that he re-used only a scalpel handle. Farrell, who also represents two of the other infected women, said that Case B's legal suit would continue. "China AIDS Hotline Goes Broke" United Press International (02/02/94) Beijing--An AIDS telephone hotline, established by volunteer medical students and personnel in China one year ago, has depleted its money, according to the state-operated Science and Technology Daily newspaper. The hotline's director has suggested auctioning off the hotline, which was strategically located in the border province of Yunnan, China's province most at risk for HIV. Located just above the Golden Triangle, Yunnan's exposure to heroin has produced high rates of drug addiction, and AIDS has spread rapidly from shared needles. "We have offered to sell the hotline to enterprises who have a public consciousness and who are keen on public affairs," said director Wang Jing, as quoted by the paper. "It is possible, after it becomes an enterprise-run hotline, it can continue to offer services to those people needing special help." According to the Science and Technology Daily, 219 people sought help from the AIDS hotline in the first half of last year, before it became plagued with financial woes. "UBI Begins Trial of the First Globally Targeted AIDS Vaccine" Business Wire (02/01/94) Hauppauge, N.Y.--United Biomedical Inc. has initiated clinical trials of the first multicomponent synthetic AIDS vaccine designed expressly to target the extensive worldwide variability of HIV-1. While other candidate vaccines are based only on single representative North American strains of the virus, UBI has focused its vaccine research on the molecular design of a "cocktail" vaccine targeting the complete range of HIV-1 strains existing around the globe. The Phase I trial to determine safety and immunogenicity is being sponsored by the Vaccine Clinical Trials Network of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. It is being conducted at the Vaccine Evaluation Units of the University of Rochester and Johns Hopkins University. "Car With AIDS-Tainted Blood Stolen From Queens Clinic" United Press International (02/02/94) New York--What seemed to be a common auto theft in New York was actually quite unusual, as the back seat of the car held samples of AIDS-tainted blood and urine. The car, with New Jersey license plates, was stolen when it was left unattended outside of a medical office in Jamaica, Queens, according to police spokesperson Merri Pearsall. The stolen vehicle was being used as a for-hire courier, and its driver was inside the offices of J-Cap Blood Bank to pick up more samples, which he was to deliver to a medical laboratory in Manhattan. Pearsall could not say whether the samples should be considered dangerous. Urine is not thought to be a means of transmission for AIDS. "If it's tainted with any kind of disease, you don't want anybody handling it," she said. "Video Game That Helps Kids Stay Healthy; Raya Systems Uses the Power of Video Games to Tackle Diabetes, Smoking, AIDS and Other Tough Topics" Business Wire (02/01/94) Mountain View, Calif.--Raya Systems has created fun and exciting video games that teach children and young adults about important health issues, including the dangers of smoking and AIDS. The company's founder and president, Steve Brown, saw the fascination of young people with video games as an opportunity to deliver critical health messages in an enjoyable manner. "Much of health education in the past has revolved around doctors and parents instructing kids in what to do," he says. "With our video games, kids are the experts, and being experts increases kids' self-esteem and motivation to learn." Raya Systems introduced a line of "health heroes," the first of which taught young people how to manage diabetes. Also available is "The AIDS Avenger" for personal computers. The Northwest AIDS Foundation recommends the game as part of its AIDS Educational Outreach program. Raya Systems is expanding the game series to include a range of other health topics. "HIV Insurance Restrictions Hit in ADA Cases" American Medical News (01/24/94-01/31/94) Vol. 37, No. 4, P. 6 (McCormick, Brian) Recent cases invoking the Americans With Disabilities Act have strengthened the rights of AIDS patients in employer-administered health insurance plans. The cases, most of which examine whether self-insured employers can exclude or separately limit coverage for AIDS-related treatment, have helped to clarify some of the legal questions surrounding infected employees and the ADA. Filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and by private parties, the cases suggest that protection from discrimination seems to be overriding employer autonomy. Peggy Mastroianni, director of ADA policy for the EEOC, was encouraged by the early court victories. "There is no lingering legal issue about whether people with HIV are covered under the ADA," she said. "The question of what constitutes discrimination and what can be justified is less clear, but our position is that separate limits for AIDS treatment are not supported by actuarial data and are therefore not justified." People with HIV are also finding the ADA to be a haven from discrimination in public accommodations, such as the case where an HIV patient was denied medical treatment at an urgent care center because of his infection. "Developments to Watch: Safer Transfusions in the Age of AIDS" Business Week (01/24/94) No. 3355, P. 66 (Arnst, Catherine) While blood safety has improved greatly over the years, current testing still is not 100 percent effective in detecting HIV. Researchers at the New York Blood Center and New York University Medical Center, however, say recent lab experiments show that an antiviral compound, hypericin, can completely inactivate HIV in whole-blood supplies without negatively impacting blood chemistry. Hypericin is manufactured by VIMRx Pharmaceuticals in Stamford, Conn. Officials there say the compound is being tested to determine if it inactivates other blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis and cytomegalovirus. Phase I trials have found hypericin safe for humans when administered intravenously. VIMRx plans to apply for Food & Drug Administration licensing in 1995. "More Choices in Treating AIDS-Related Pneumonia" Journal of the American Medical Association (01/19/94) Vol. 271, No. 3, P. 176 (Voelker, Rebecca) Following nearly eight years of development, the Food and Drug Administration last month approved antifolate trimetrexate glucuronate as a treatment of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), an AIDS-related infection that affects as many as 80 percent of AIDS patients. The drug will be marketed as NeuTrexin by its manufacturer, US Bioscience Inc. of Pennsylvania. The main value of the drug, say company officials, is not as the drug of choice for PCP, but as a salvage medication for the one-third to one-half of patients who cannot tolerate the primary treatments, including pentamidine, atovaquone, and the combination of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX). Administered with leucovorin, trimetrexate is also the first drug designated for treatment of moderate and severe cases of PCP, according to the FDA. "An alternate therapy that was more effective and better tolerated was needed for these large, severe episodes," said Dr. Fred Sattler, professor of medicine at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, who also served as protocol chair for clinical trials of trimetrexate.