Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 09:39:47 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary May 24, 1995 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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "AIDS Researcher Gallo Is Bound for Baltimore" "Assemblyman's Shift on Marijuana Legislation Has Unexpected Result" "AIDS Funding Would Reflect Compassion" "Thai AIDS Centre Attacked by Frightened Neighbours" "German Police Recapture Convicts, Hostage Unharmed" "Novel Compound from Paracelsian Proves Highly Effective against AIDS Virus in Laboratory Tests" "The Cost of Safe Blood Supplies" "R&B Response to AIDS" "D4T: New Clinical Data Confirms Benefit" "AIDS and Behavior: An Integrated Approach" ************************************************************ "AIDS Researcher Gallo Is Bound for Baltimore" Baltimore Sun (05/24/95) P. 1A; Bor, Jonathan Pioneering AIDS researcher Dr. Robert C. Gallo will relocate his laboratory to the newly renovated facilities at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, sources said on Tuesday. Gallo discovered two leukemia viruses, and is credited with crucial findings in the biology of AIDS. Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening personally offered Gallo and a staff that could total 50 scientists and support staff $9 million from the state's "sunny day" fund to cover costs for three years. The governor will elaborate on Gallo's departure after 30 years from the National Cancer Institute at a news conference today. "Assemblyman's Shift on Marijuana Legislation Has Unexpected Result" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (05/24/95) P. B3; Morain, Dan Calif. Assemblyman John Vasconcellos was initially hesitant to carry a bill that would legalize marijuana for medical use. However, he has changed his mind--a decision which he believes may have saved his life. Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) asked AIDS researcher and specialist Dr. Marcus Conant to testify at a legislative hearing about the pain relief that the drug can give to people with AIDS or other diseases. But when Conant arrived in his friend Vasconcellos' office this month, he noticed that a mole on the assemblyman's nose had changed. The mole proved to be melanoma and was removed. The Assembly passed Vasconcellos' bill to permit the medical use of marijuana last week; it now awaits state Senate action. "AIDS Funding Would Reflect Compassion" USA Today (05/24/95) P. 10A; Fisher, Mary To see the reauthorization of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act stalled is a grave concern, writes Mary Fisher--founder of the Family AIDS Network--in a letter to the editors of USA Today. Very few members of the AIDS community expect support from the new legislative leadership, she says. Quick action on the Ryan White CARE Act, however, could change their minds. Such a move would show compassion and an eagerness to demonstrate justice, Fisher concludes. "Thai AIDS Centre Attacked by Frightened Neighbours" Reuters (05/23/95) Thai police reported that a small bomb exploded outside an AIDS center near Bangkok on Sunday. Although no one was injured and only minor damage was caused by the bomb, district police chief Colonel Somchai Chareuntrap said he was worried that more serious violence may occur if the AIDS center continues to defy area residents' demands for it to move. Somchai said that provincial authorities have discussed the issue with the privately-operated welfare center, where at least five people with AIDS are living. "German Police Recapture Convicts, Hostage Unharmed" Reuters (05/23/95); Bauer, Felix On Tuesday, German authorities recaptured two escaped prisoners who had been leading them on a chase around northern Germany since Sunday. The hostage they had taken was freed unharmed. The two men--who are infected with HIV, and described as highly dangerous--had been driving around the city of Osnabrueck, throwing banknotes out of their car, the police said. When the convicts broke out of jail on Sunday, they took a prison guard hostage and demanded a Porsche as their getaway car. They also demanded 200,000 marks ($140,000) in cash, although police declined to say whether or not the money was given. The police followed the two men for more than 51 hours. "Novel Compound from Paracelsian Proves Highly Effective against AIDS Virus in Laboratory Tests" PR Newswire (05/23/95) Two recent laboratory studies utilizing human white blood cells indicate that PN355 inhibits HIV-1 replication, said Keith Rhodes, President and CEO of Paracelsian, Inc. PN355 is the fist of a new class of tyrosine kinase inhibitors which, according to a past article in the journal Science, inhibit the cytopathicity associated with HIV-1. Citing a more recent Science report, Paracelsian chief scientist Dr. John Babish said the preliminary data shows that PN355 appears to induce apoptosis, or cell death, in HIV-infected cells. Paracelsian has isolated four naturally occurring variations of PN355, and will begin studies to analyze their relative antiviral strength. "The Cost of Safe Blood Supplies" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (05/23/95) P. 13B; Chaplin Jr., Hugh; Cornwell Jr. Alexander; Loeb Jr., Virgil The Missouri/Illinois Regional Red Cross Blood Services' financial difficulties stem from efforts to supply a complete range of blood products to more than 100 area hospitals at low prices, write Chaplin et al. in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The authors are members of the Voluntary Advisory Board to that agency. To understand these problems, it is necessary to put them in perspective, the authors write. The Red Cross is the nation's largest single supplier of blood products, and has thus had high visibility during the past decade in which the risks of transfusion-transmitted HIV and hepatitis C have become widely recognized. To satisfy the Food and Drug Administration's rigorous laboratory testing requirements, the Red Cross maintains computerized records of more than 5 million blood donors each year. It also performs comprehensive daily quality control of the many tests that are necessary to maximize the safety of blood products. Another factor which contributes to the higher cost of Red Cross blood products is the agency's commitment to the overall safety of transfusions, which includes nationwide education programs about them. In order for the Red Cross to recover its costs, the understanding and support of the public and hospital administrators is needed, the authors conclude. "R&B Response to AIDS" USA Today (05/23/95) P. 2D; Jones IV, James T. AIDS, which is often ignored by the R&B/rap world, is the focus of an all-star effort, R&B quartet Jodeci and rapper Heavy D. announced on Monday. Inspired by the death of rapper Eazy E, the performers are working with UrbanAID 4 LIFEbeat, an AIDS fund-raising organization founded by Uptown Records head Andre Harrell. The record exec is planning an Oct. 5 concert in New York's Madison Square Garden featuring Jodeci, Heavy D., Mary J. Blige, Salt-N-Pepa, and Run-D.M.C. Jodeci also announced an 11-city promotional/AIDS awareness tour beginning June 10. "D4T: New Clinical Data Confirms Benefit" AIDS Treatment News (05/05/95) No. 222, P. 1; James, John S. A new study of d4T (stavudine, Zerit) has found that patients who have been using AZT fared significantly better in terms of disease progression if they switched to d4T than if they stayed on AZT. Data from the 019 study, which was sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb, was presented at the Eighth International Conference on Antiviral Research in Santa Fe, N.M. A total of 822 patients were randomly assigned to either continue using AZT or to switch to d4T. The researchers measured three outcomes--survival, clinical progression, and treatment failure. Ninety percent of those assigned to the d4T group survived the two years of the study, compared to 86 percent of those in the AZT group. This was not statistically significant, however, because of the small number of deaths. The other two outcomes were statistically significant in favor of d4T. Overall, CD4 levels were higher by about 40 in those who switched to d4T. Bristol-Myers Squibb will likely now ask the Food and Drug Administration to expand the "labeling" of d4T, so that it will be officially indicated for patients who have taken AZT for at least six months. "AIDS and Behavior: An Integrated Approach" New England Journal of Medicine (05/18/95) Vol. 332, No. 20, P. 1388; Ickovics, Jeannette R. "AIDS and Behavior: An Integrated Approach," edited by Auerbach et al., attempts to promote AIDS clinical care and clinical research in the context of economic, social, cultural, and political realities. Part I, "Research Findings and Opportunities," outlines AIDS research in neurobiology, psychology, and the social and behavioral sciences. Part II, "Managing the AIDS Research Programs at NIAAA [National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism], NIDA [National Institute on Drug Abuse], and NIMH [National Institute of Mental Health]," offers a comprehensive history of AIDS research within these institutes. This book provides perspective and background that can be used as a basis for future AIDS research.