Date: Thu, 29 Sep 1994 09:11:19 -0400 (EDT) From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary September 29, 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 ************************************************************ "Condom Range From Benetton" "AIDS Testing Suit Settled; Debate Lingers" "Top AIDS Doctor Critical of Colleagues" "Biopharmaceutics Inc. Announces New Agreement" "Genetic Research News Tips from the Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine" "American Clinical Laboratory Association President Available to Discuss HIV, Testing" "Thalidomide Enters Phase II Study for Major AIDS Condition..." "Liposome Technology Inc. to File for European Marketing Approval..." "Long-Term Survivors Hold Key to Understanding Immune Response" Getting to the Point" ************************************************************ "Condom Range From Benetton" Financial Times (09/29/94) P. 18 Benetton, the Italian clothing manufacturer, will introduce a new line of condoms in Japan. The company said the green and pink condoms will be produced and distributed under a license agreement with Okamato Industries, a pharmaceutical company. "AIDS Testing Suit Settled; Debate Lingers" Chicago Tribune (09/28/94) P. 1-7; Fegelman, Andrew An Illinois man sued his doctor and the corporation that owns the hospital where she works for ordering an HIV test without first obtaining his written consent. The doctor cited an exemption to the law stating that written consent is not required when the doctor believes that a test is necessary for diagnosis and the patient has already given general consent for treatment. A settlement was reached last week as the case prepared to go to trial. Many doctors claim the Illinois law has raised problems for them as they try to balance patients' rights against efforts to fight a public health hazard. "Top AIDS Doctor Critical of Colleagues" Toronto Globe and Mail (09/28/94) P. A4; Picard, Andre Dr. Rejean Thomas, Quebec's leading AIDS doctor and head of l'Actuel clinic in Montreal, says that many Canadian doctors still refer people with possible HIV infection to Red Cross blood donor clinics for testing because they do not know where else to send them. One of the reasons that Canadian blood testing started late--eight months after the United States--is because the provinces were trying to establish alternative test sites so that people would not go to the Red Cross to be tested. "Anonymous testing sites are not known in the general population, or even in the medical community, but the Red Cross--unfortunately in this case--and its policy of testing blood for AIDS is well known," Thomas told the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada on Tuesday. She condemned the practice of referring possible HIV patients to the Red Cross for testing as a dangerous practice that reflects ignorance still deeply rooted in the medical profession a decade after the AIDS epidemic struck Canada. "Biopharmaceutics Inc. Announces New Agreement" Business Wire (09/28/94) Biopharmaceutics Inc. announced Wednesday that it has secured the rights to a patented "Antiviral Composition and Method"--which kills HIV and Hepatitis B on contact--from the Research Foundation of State University of New York at Stony Brook. The company plans to manufacture a spermicidal formula, made up of the antiviral compound and currently approved ingredients, to be sold in Third World countries where the AIDS epidemic is significant. The product will be distributed through direct sales to foreign governments or through humanitarian health organizations, and is not expected to be for sale in the United States at this time. Biopharmaceutics Inc. expects to have the final product for sale within nine months. "Genetic Research News Tips from the Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine" PR Newswire (09/28/94) New Jackson Laboratory mice models have enabled researchers to study HIV infections in mice that are similar to the progress of HIV in humans. History shows that having an animal model for a disease can accelerate the research process by as much as ten-fold. "American Clinical Laboratory Association President Available to Discuss HIV, Testing" PR Newswire (09/28/94) In recognition of National AIDS Awareness Month, Dr. David N. Sundwall, president of the American Clinical Laboratory Association, will be available for interviews in October to discuss HIV and how testing can help reduce the spread of AIDS. Sundwall is also the co-vice chairman of the advisory board of the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS. "Thalidomide Enters Phase II Study for Major AIDS Condition..." PR Newswire (09/27/94) Celgene Corp. has launched Phase II clinical trials of thalidomide as a treatment for cachexia, the wasting condition that often afflicts AIDS patients. The study, which is believed to be the first corporate sponsored double-blind, placebo-controlled study in this country on the clinical efficacy of thalidomide, will be conducted at Rockefeller University and Thomas Jefferson University. Celgene said that results could be available in six months. The company is also collaborating with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to determine the efficacy of thalidomide, under the tradename Synovir, in slowing HIV progression. "Liposome Technology Inc. to File for European Marketing Approval..." Health Wire (09/27/94) Liposome Technology Inc. (LTI) reported on Tuesday that the Committee on Proprietary and Medicinal Products (CPMP) of the European Union has decided that the company's DOX-SL Stealth liposome product qualifies for review under the "high technology" List B concertation procedure. DOX-SL is a Stealth liposome form. Last month, the company announced the filing of a New Drug Application with the FDA for DOX-SL use in the treatment of Karposi's sarcoma in patients who do not respond to or cannot tolerate chemotherapy. In addition, LTI is sponsoring phase II trials in non-small cell lung cancer, hepatocellular cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, and soft tissue sarcomas. "Long-Term Survivors Hold Key to Understanding Immune Response" AIDS Alert (09/94) P. 126 Explanations as to why some individuals may remain symptom-free for 10 to 15 years after being infected with HIV were presented at the 10th International Conference on AIDS. David Ho, director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City, said, "Possible explanations...include resistant CD4 cells and stronger cellular or humoral immunity." Long-term nonprogressors comprise roughly 5 to 15 percent of HIV-positive people and are often defined as having CD4 counts above 500, absence of clinical disease, and no clear loss of CD4 counts over time. Virus was not easily cultivated in the 10 study participants and HIV cultures from two subjects demonstrated greatly reduced growth versus cultures from people whose disease had progressed, said Ho. "Getting to the Point" Economist (09/10/94-09/16/94) Vol. 332, No. 7880, P. 28 Baltimore Mayor Schmoke is attempting to lower the number of AIDS cases among the city's 48,000 drug addicts by introducing a needle-exchange program. Although the federal government and Maryland state law prohibit the sale or supply of drug paraphernalia, Maryland permitted a waiver to give the plan a chance. Baltimore's program--the largest in the United States--began in August. It serves well over the 1,000 people that were originally expected to register, and may result in serving three to four times as many.