Date: Wed, 11 May 1994 09:18:24 -0400 (EDT) >From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary May 11, 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 "Dispute Over AIDS Vaccine Settled" Philadelphia Inquirer (05/11/94) P. C8; Collins, Huntly A ruling issued by the American Arbitration Association yesterday has removed obstacles to continued work on an experimental and controversial AIDS vaccine proposed by Dr. Jonas Salk. The arbitrator ruled that Immune Response Corp. of Carlsbad, Calif., holds all contractual rights to control clinical testing of the vaccine and negotiations with federal regulatory bodies. Should the vaccine prove effective, however, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc.--Immune's corporate partner--retains marketing rights in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Rhone-Poulenc had sought, but lost its bid for, joint control of the clinical trials and regulatory issues. In addition, the arbitrator said that manufacturing of the vaccine would be controlled by Immunization Products Ltd., a joint venture established by both companies. The vaccine is unusual because, while most vaccines aim to prevent initial infection or disease, Salk's vaccine is designed for those already infected with HIV. Salk, who developed the first polio vaccine, insists that his AIDS vaccine can curb HIV reproduction in infected patients. Researchers are awaiting federal approval to conduct large-scale testing to determine the vaccine's efficiency. "2 Pharmaceutical Firms Join in HIV Research" Journal of Commerce (05/11/94) P. 6B Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Tarrytown, N.J., and American Cyanamid Co. of Wayne, N.J., have signed a research agreement to develop a new class of therapeutic products for the treatment of HIV infection. The agents being developed merge Progenic's HIV Universal Neutralizing Antibody (UNAb) technology with American Cyanamid's proprietary conjugation technology and drug technology. Under the deal, American Cyanamid and Progenics will examine several UNAb-drug conjugates that specifically kill HIV-infected cells in the body. "AIDS Virus Infects Vietnam's Revived Sex Industry" Washington Times (05/11/94) P. A14; Strobel, Warren While prostitution is not new to Vietnam, the tremendous growth of the commercial sex industry combined with the current social transformation has fostered the deadly and quickly growing threat of AIDS. "Some people see Vietnam as one of the last places that's relatively free of AIDS," says Don Luce, president of International Voluntary Services, a nonprofit organization that seeks to help and educate Vietnamese prostitutes. "That encourages, really, sex tourism." In actuality, Vietnam has advanced from a single case of HIV infection in 1990 to more than 1,000 new cases reported last year alone. The Vietnamese government's national plan for AIDS prevention predicts that 570,000 people could be infected by 1998. The December 1993 plan calls for AIDS prevention and control through programs aimed at stamping out prostitution and drug use, thus enabling workers "to reach more easily these groups and educate them about ways of preventing themselves and their sex partners from becoming infected." The plan calls for promoting safe sex and greater availability of condoms, two strategies endorsed by American health authorities. "Condom Firm Patiently Persists as Trust Gains Believers, Buyers" Washington Times (05/11/94) P. A14; Strobel, Warren DKT International, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that specializes in AIDS prevention in 25 countries--including Vietnam, is on a mission. According to DKT's Andy Pillar, a great percentage of populations in the Third World cannot access free health services provided by the government or afford commercial products. So his organization seeks to make condoms widely available at a price most Vietnamese can afford, along with instructions on proper use. Because Vietnam's condom factories could not meet DKT's standards, the group imports Trust brand condoms from Malaysia and sells them for 1,000 Vietnamese dong, or about 10 cents, for a package of three. Ads are broadcast on television and the radio, bartenders are urged to carry the product, and DKT offers to buy pharmacies new store signs if they will put the Trust logo on them. So far, the campaign has been well-received, according to Pillar, who is known as Vietnam's "Mr. Condom." "Gen-Probe Inc. to Work on HIV Treatment" Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (05/10/94); Rose, Craig D. Gen-Probe Inc. announced that it has identified several candidate HIV drugs, and hopes to begin testing one of the drugs in humans by early next year. The company will use profits from its medical-test business to develop treatments for HIV and other diseases, according to Nanibhushan Dattagupta, senior director of therapeutics research for Gen-Probe. While the company previously focused on diagnostics, the same technology it used for diagnostics is directly applicable to therapeutics, he said. To develop drugs, Gen-Probe will use antisense technology, an approach that aims to inhibit disease by deactivating certain proteins encoded by human genes. "Number of Indonesia AIDS Cases on Rise" United Press International (05/09/94) The number of HIV-infected people in Indonesia could be much greater than the official number cited by the government, according to a senior Cabinet minister. Azwar Anas, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, said his figure is much lower than that of the World Health Organization. By that agency's standards, he said, there could be as many as 21,300 cases of HIV infection in Indonesia. Anas said there is an urgent need to step up AIDS education to prevent its spread. "Our main concern is that most of those who were infected by the virus are aged between 20 years and 29 years," Anas remarked. "So those people infected with HIV are in their productive ages." He said he would increase AIDS education through coordination with various ministries. In the meantime, a presidential decree is soon to be issued to make the Indonesian public more aware of the risks of HIV/AIDS, and to prevent its spread to unaffected areas and people. According to a high-ranking health ministry official, the government has agreed to disperse more than $2 million for programs designed to halt the spread of the disease. "AIDSLine: Should My Doctor Know I'm HIV-Positive?" Advocate (05/03/94) No. 654, P. 33; Cohan, Gary R. HIV-related dental problems often receive less attention than other complications, for many people do not know that painful gingivitis and periodontitis are common and major health threats to HIV-positive patients. A San Francisco study found HIV-associated gingivitis present in 50 percent of the patients. Investigators noted that, since 1983, local dentists have observed increasing numbers of "unusually severe and aggressive" cases of gingivitis and periodontitis among HIV-infected gay men, whereas the severity of gum disease previously had been seen only in extremely malnourished and debilitated persons. Dr. Michael Glick, chairman of the newly established Dental Alliance for HIV/AIDS Care, reviewed 1,500 dental procedures performed on HIV-infected patients with T-cell counts below 200. Glick concluded that most AIDS patients can be safely treated in a general dental-practice environment. Still, HIV-positive patients should discuss HIV status with the dentist. Although all health care providers should know the symptoms of HIV-related dental problems, some conditions are so common that if the dentist isn't aware of the patient's HIV status, the problem may not be treated as quickly and aggressively as necessary. Just as the patient has the responsibility to inform the dentist of HIV status, so the dentist has the legal and moral obligation to treat the patient. "HIV and Cancer" Lancet (04/23/94) Vol. 343, No. 8904, P. 1032; McCarthy, Michael New evidence suggests that HIV can contribute directly to lymphomagenesis and that retroviruses can cause cancer in humans, report researchers at the University of California at San Francisco. They identified four cases of AIDS-related lymphomas in which the HIV provirus is inserted near a known oncogene. In each case, HIV integration occurred in the same region of the cellular genome, in what is known as the fur gene. Dr. Bruce Shiramizu, lead author of the study, said he found it unlikely that the insertions were random events. Rather, he believes that the HIV-infected cells should be considered a new class of lymphomas. Most AIDS-related lymphomas are B-cell lymphomas. Since HIV is not present in B-cells, it is thought that lymphomas found in them are caused by altered immunoregulation. Over the past few years, however, a growing number of AIDS patients in San Francisco General Hospital have been diagnosed with non-B-cell lymphomas, according to Shiramizu. He said the study's findings raise questions about whether other viruses may have a role in cancers to which a cure has not yet been found--such as Hodgkin's disease and Kaposi's sarcoma--in non-infected patients as well as those with AIDS.