Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 10:26:44 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 08/09/96 AIDS Daily Summary August 9, 1996 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 National AIDS Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ****************************************************** "An Inborn Barrier to the AIDS Virus Is Found in Study" "Nature Deals Blow to Viatical Insurers" "Pharmacia & Upjohn in Marketing Pact with Gilead" "Free Test Shows Advancement of AIDS Virus" "Task Force to Advise on Blood Supply" "Across the USA: Wisconsin" "Nevirapine Now Available Commercially" "Glaxo's Epivir AIDS Drug Gets European License" "HIV and the Pediatrician as the Child's Advocate" "Control Strategies for Tuberculosis Epidemics: New Models for Old Problems" ****************************************************** "An Inborn Barrier to the AIDS Virus Is Found in Study" Wall Street Journal (08/09/96) P. B5; Waldholz, Michael AIDS researchers report that some people have a rare gene that protects them from HIV infection. The Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center's Richard Koup and colleagues report in today's issue of the journal Cell that the gene makes a protein which does not allow HIV to enter cells. The protein, CKR-5, was identified in June by five different research groups--including the Aaron Diamond Laboratory--as being critical for HIV's entry into the cell. The researchers say that only about 1 percent of people of Western European heritage carry the gene but note that the findings can be used for drug development. "Nature Deals Blow to Viatical Insurers" Journal of Commerce (08/09/96) P. 8A; Macleod, Helen R. Although companies that buy life insurance policies from the terminally ill were hurt by the news this month about advances in AIDS care, they were also encouraged about the passage of a health insurance bill that includes a provision making viatical settlements free from federal income tax. The new policy adds a substantial amount to the settlement a terminally ill policyholder can expect to receive, while also apparently granting approval to the viatical settlement industry. Improving the survival of AIDS patients is good news, of course, but for viatical settlement companies longer life means less profit. Dignity Partners, for example, recently announced that it would no longer buy policies from AIDS patients. "Pharmacia & Upjohn in Marketing Pact with Gilead" New York Times (08/09/96) P. D3 Pharmacia & Upjohn has brokered a deal with Gilead Sciences in which it will pay Gilead $60 million for the overseas marketing rights to Gilead's Vistide, a drug for fighting blindness in AIDS patients. Pharmacia said it would pay Gilead $10 million initially and another $10 million after the drug is cleared for marketing in Europe. The company would then acquire $40 million on newly issued Gilead preferred shares. Gilead shares close at 19.125, up $1.50 in Nasdaq trading. "Free Test Shows Advancement of AIDS Virus" Miami Herald (08/08/96) P. 3B; Rafinski, Karen Roche Molecular Systems is offering a free test to HIV-infected individuals to help them assess the amount of virus in their blood. The test, which helps doctors determine how far progressed the disease is, will be free until August 17. The Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor test, while not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for this use, is an especially important tool for doctors to monitor the use of protease inhibitors. The test usually costs about $123. "Task Force to Advise on Blood Supply" Toronto Globe and Mail (08/08/96) P. A4 Canada's health ministers will be advised by a federal-provincial task force this fall on how to keep the blood supply safe, despite concerns by Justice Horace Krever that the task force is a pre-emptive move against the findings of his inquiry. The task force, created in April, includes representatives from the federal government, five provinces, and experts in transfusion medicine. "Across the USA: Wisconsin" USA Today (08/09/96) P. 6A Donald Hawks, an HIV-positive man who had unprotected sex with three women, has been issued a six-year prison sentence. Hawks pleaded no contest to reckless endangerment. None of the women have tested positive for HIV. "Nevirapine Now Available Commercially" Reuters (08/08/96) Viramune (nevirapine), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor for the treatment of HIV infection, became commercially available on Wednesday. According to Roxane Laboratories, the new drug has a wholesale price of $6.88 for one standard daily maintenance dose. "This price, when compared to the currently approved protease inhibitors, which range from $12-$18 per day, is significantly lower," notes Roxane's Ed Tupa. An Expanded Access Program has provided AIDS patients with Viramune since March. "Glaxo's Epivir AIDS Drug Gets European License" Reuters (08/08/96) Glaxo Wellcome announced on Thursday that its Epivir, a drug for the treatment of HIV infection, has been approved by the European Commission for use in the 15 member states of the European Union. When used in combination with other drugs, Epivir has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing the mortality rate of AIDS patients. The drug is also marketed as 3TC. "HIV and the Pediatrician as the Child's Advocate" Lancet (07/27/96) Vol. 348, No. 9022, P. 247; Duke, Christopher; Kovar, Ilya Z. In a review of the laws applying to HIV testing of pregnant women and their unborn children, Christopher Duke and Ilya Z. Kovar of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London cite the details of the law that may be used in doctors' favor to protect infants from perinatal infection. Opponents of mandatory HIV testing for pregnant women say it violates their rights, for example, yet without it, the rights of the child are abandoned, because recognizing and treating vertically transmitted HIV can dramatically improve a child's health and survival. Moreover, while confidentiality rules prohibit a doctor from revealing a patient's HIV status, confidentiality in the United Kingdom may be breached to protect another person's health. The authors claim that this would allow a doctor to disclose that a woman has HIV if it would protect her child's health. Similarly, the British law allows disclosure of confidential information if it is in the public interest, which would likely include the protection of a child's health, they say. However, if a mother's HIV status is disclosed without her consent, disclosure must be restricted to only the medical staff who need to know to protect the child. "Control Strategies for Tuberculosis Epidemics: New Models for Old Problems" Science (07/26/96) Vol. 273, No. 5274, P. 497; Blower, S.M.; Small, P.M.; Hopewell, P.C. S.M. Blower, of the University of California at San Francisco, and colleagues, present a theoretical framework for designing effective tuberculosis (TB) control strategies and determining treatment levels to eradicate the disease. Using a mathematical model that estimates the disease's pathogenesis, and incorporating the population level effects of chemoprophylaxis and treatment, they conclude that treatment failure rates must be lower in developing countries than in developed countries to control TB. They also contend that the World Health Organization's global TB treatment goals for the year 2000 would probably not lead to global eradication but would significantly reduce morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, they estimate how suboptimal control programs contribute to the evolution of drug resistance and suggest that higher standards for treatment should be required for programs in developing countries compared to those in developed countries.