AIDS Daily Summary February 6, 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 ************************************************************ "Patents: Thalidomide Makes a Comeback" "Across the USA: Idaho" "Isis Reports Year End and Fourth Quarter Results for 1994" "House of Compassion for AIDS Patients Finds Trait Lacking in Neighbors" "Benetton Touches a Nerve and Germans Protest" "Reticulose AIDS Study Not to Commence Until FDA Approval Is Obtained" "Prosecutor Bars Release of AIDS Scandal Doctor" "AIDS Activists Fail to Block 'Reasonable Pricing' Reform" "Study: HIV Infection Rate Up Among Houston Teens" "Virus Threat from Baboon Transplants" ************************************************************ "Patents: Thalidomide Makes a Comeback" New York Times (02/06/95) P. D2; Riordan, Teresa Recently, scientists have found that thalidomide, the drug responsible for the deformities of thousands of babies born during the 1950s, may inhibit HIV as well as alleviate certain symptoms associated with tuberculosis (TB) and cancer. Thalidomide was widely prescribed in Europe for morning sickness before being banned for such use. Although the first American patent for the drug was issued in 1958, Gilla Kaplan--as associate professor of immunology at Rockefeller University--received a patent for new possible applications of the drug last week. Dr. Kaplan and her colleagues found that thalidomide slows the body's production of tumor necrosis factor alpha, a protein that at normal levels helps fight infection and malignant cells. High concentrations of the protein appear to result in fever, weight loss, and other symptoms in patients with cancer, TB, and AIDS. "Across the USA: Idaho" USA Today (02/06/95) P. 6A Health officials will be at Mountain Home Junior High in Idaho today to provide students with HIV and hepatitis B tests, as well as hepatitis B vaccinations. Six seventh-graders at the school were suspended after they stuck more than 50 classmates with straight pins last Thursday. "Isis Reports Year End and Fourth Quarter Results for 1994" PRNewswire (02/06/95) Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced a full-year net loss of $18.2 million on Monday, up from a loss of $19.1 million in 1993. Revenues were also up at $15.5 million, compared to $12.1 million last year. In the fourth quarter, Isis had a net loss of $6 million and expenditures of $9.4 million. B. Lynne Parshall, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Isis, said, "We now have three drugs in clinical trials, as well as a strong pipeline of preclinical candidates." Isis has three compounds in human clinical trials: ISIS 2922, for the treatment of CMV-induced retinitis in AIDS patients; ISIS 2105, for the treatment of genital warts created by human papillomavirus; and ISIS 2302, an inhibitor of ICAM-1, for the treatment of several inflammatory diseases. "House of Compassion for AIDS Patients Finds Trait Lacking in Neighbors" Los Angeles Times (02/05/95) P. A3; Thompson, Carolyn The House of Compassion, a residence for people with AIDS, has faced opposition from the beginning. With complaints including a potential 40 percent decrease in property values and public endangerment, neighbors of the house in Cumberland, R.I., have gone to court to remove the residents. The house is the brainchild of Colleen Scanlan, who had worked with AIDS patients at a clinic. In return for $350 a month, residents receive room and board, and more importantly, the emotional support of their housemates. At a meeting of the Cumberland Town Council last year, Scanlan was accused of lacking compassion for people who do not have AIDS. She said, however, that the controversy seemed to die and the residents began to feel accepted when they were flooded with Christmas presents and donations of food--although most of the gifts came from outside the neighborhood. "Benetton Touches a Nerve and Germans Protest" New York Times (02/03/95) P. D1; Nash, Nathaniel C. While Benetton Group SpA's advertisements have prompted protests in France, Italy, Britain, and the United States, they have provoked the most conspicuous backlash in Germany, reflecting the country's intense sensitivities over war and death. One of the ads shows a man's arm tattooed with the words "HIV Positive." One storeowner, Heinz Hartwich, says that because of the ads, customers have boycotted his store and he lost almost $600,000 in sales last year. For that reason, Hartwich refused to pay for an equal amount of merchandise from Benetton and tried to sever relations with the company. He is one of about 70 German Benetton licensees who met in January to discuss the drop of more than 30 percent in sales at the almost 150 Benetton outlets licensed among them. Some of the storeowners have received death threats or have had their store windows smashed with rocks. In recent years, Benetton's ads have included showing a war cemetery, an oil-soaked sea-bird, and a dying AIDS patient. Benetton officials claim the problems in Germany were provoked by the store owners' own financial mismanagement, and not the advertisements. "Reticulose AIDS Study Not to Commence Until FDA Approval Is Obtained" Business Wire (02/03/95) Advanced Viral Research announced Friday that on Jan. 27, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) instructed the company to halt all activities directly related to a pilot AIDS study assessing the effects of Reticulose on the viral load of people diagnosed with HIV. The FDA had placed Reticulose on clinical hold with respect to permitting the drug to be tested on humans. The company instructed the physicians conducting the study to immediately stop all related activities. Advanced Viral Research will now attempt to satisfy the FDA requirements to allow it to pursue testing of Reticulose on humans. Reticulose is a non-toxic anti-viral peptide-nucleic acid solution which Advanced Viral Research believes to be safe and effective against a number of viral diseases. "Prosecutor Bars Release of AIDS Scandal Doctor" Reuters (02/03/95) On Friday, the Paris prosecutor's office prevented the release on bail of Michel Garretta, the doctor serving the longest jail term in a French scandal over AIDS-tainted blood products. A lower circuit judge had ordered Garretta's release late on Thursday, ruling that he was eligible for bail after serving half of a four-year sentence imposed in 1992 for fraud and criminal negligence for distributing tainted blood products to hemophiliacs. Before his release, however, the prosecutor's office lodged an appeal to a higher court, which means that Garretta must remain in jail until the appeal is heard Thursday. According to judicial sources, the prosecutor decided to appeal on the grounds that Garretta's release could lead to public disorders. Garretta was head of the National Blood Transfusion Centre in 1985 when more than 1,250 hemophiliacs were infected by AIDS-tainted blood as officials used up stocks to save money, rather than import virus-free products. "AIDS Activists Fail to Block 'Reasonable Pricing' Reform" Nature (01/26/95) Vol. 373, No. 6512, P. 272; Gavaghan, Helen A government task force recently agreed to support negotiations that are expected to lead to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) eliminating the "reasonable pricing" clause in agreements between intramural researchers and industry. Due to pressure from critics on both sides, the NIH is negotiating with the Department of Health and Human Services about alternatives. The National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development's decision that the NIH should continue its negotiations led to a protest by ACT-UP, which had urged the task force to press NIH to strengthen the clause. The group's case is based on the high cost of the anti-AIDS drug AZT, which was partially developed with federal funds. The NIH's cooperative research agreements (CRADAs) contain reasonable pricing clauses, which were introduced in 1989 following widespread outrage at the price of AZT. The NIH is the only major government agency to have such a clause, and many researchers claim that it prevents them from collaborating with industry. Many industry members also oppose the clause, saying they do not trust the government's ability to decide on a "reasonable price" for drugs, and that venture capitalists are hesitant to loan money if a company has a CRADA containing a clause allowing the government to do so. "Study: HIV Infection Rate Up Among Houston Teens" Nation's Health (01/95) Vol. 25, No. 1, P. 8 A new study which compared rates of HIV infection among patients at the Teen Health Clinic of Baylor College of Medicine in 1988 and 1992 found that HIV infection among sexually active teenagers in Houston is increasing. In 1988, researchers found no cases of HIV among 1,200 adolescents tested. In 1992, of the 1,085 youngsters sampled, nine were HIV-positive--five of whom reported heterosexual contact as the potential risk factor. Six of the nine were not in school. The findings indicate an increase in HIV infection among urban teens in Texas, the authors said. "We recommend that the educational focus for high-school youth, especially those out of school, take place in a primary health-care setting where they are likely to be using services related to a critical health need," they concluded. "Virus Threat from Baboon Transplants" Health (01/95-02/95) Vol. 9, No. 1, P. 18; Carey, Benedict; Long, Patricia; Mason, Michael Well-meaning doctors may be helping killer viruses spread, according to Texas virologist Jonathan Allan. The majority of new worldwide epidemics, such as AIDS, begin when a virus jumps from one species to another. For example, HIV is probably the human version of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), which infects African chimpanzees. Scientists suspect that a trace of a chimpanzee's blood or tissue must have slipped into someone's bloodstream before 1970. Despite the danger of an AIDS sequel, says Allan, doctors have been transplanting primate tissue into humans. Human skin and mucus membranes ward off viral infections, he adds, but people cannot do anything about infected tissue that is implanted in their bodies. Allan lists six cases in which humans have encountered problems when borrowing cells from another species. While Allan acknowledges that inter-species transplantation could save many lives, he questions the cost at which the lives will be saved. Until scientists attempt to answer his question, he recommends a moratorium.