Protein Grown in Tobacco Plant Could Result in Low-Cost Microbicide

Researchers on Monday announced that tobacco plants in Kentucky have been used in a study to develop a low-cost drug that inhibits HIV, providing hope for the eventual development of a vaginal microbicide, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports (Kenning, Louisville Courier-Journal, 3/31). The study, published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was a collaborative effort between scientists at the Owensboro Cancer Research Program; the National Cancer Institute; Kentucky-based biotech companies Intrucept Biomedicine and Kentucky Bioprocessing; and researchers at Duke University and the University of London (Adkins, Business First of Louisville, 3/30).

According to the Courier-Journal, the researchers used a manufacturing process that utilized an existing protein called Giffithsin, which can inhibit HIV transmission during sexual activity. Kenneth Palmer, lead researcher and senior scientist at the University of Louisville, said that he used a method to grow large amounts of the protein in a relative of the tobacco plant at a low cost, producing 500,000 doses from a 5,000 square-foot greenhouse, the Courier-Journal reports. Palmer said the process resulted in a product that could be more effective than previous microbicide efforts.

According to Palmer, many scientists are pursuing HIV prevention methods, mostly in gel forms that attack the virus, but some have had side effects and were expensive to produce. The Courier-Journal reports that Palmer's product did not appear to cause inflammation in users and that a vaginal gel made through the process "could potentially cost just a few cents." Palmer said that the end-product, likely a gel, could be available as early as 2015 if clinical trials are successful (Louisville Courier-Journal, 3/31). He estimated that "tens of millions" of dollars would be needed to continue the project through the third phase of clinical testing. Donald Miller, director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, said that international donors might be interested in assisting in funding the research. Miller said the new study is a "very important piece of work." He added, "We think this is a validation of our belief that this is going to be a very viable, cost-effective way to produce new drugs" (Business First of Louisville, 3/30). According to Palmer, condoms are the only product currently available and "they're obviously not enthusiastically embraced by all users." He added that there is "a big need for an effective, female-controlled intervention to protect from HIV" (Louisville Courier-Journal, 3/31).

Ryan White Funding Delays

Errors in a public notice last week in New Orleans have forced city officials to delay the start of the 2009 process for distributing an expected $5 million in Ryan White Program funding for local HIV/AIDS agencies, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The announcement of the delay comes after Fran Lawless -- who serves as director of Mayor Ray Nagin's Office of Health Care Policy -- in October testified before the city council's Housing and Human Needs Committee that 2008 funding distribution was delayed by six months and that service providers went without funding from March to October.

According to the Times-Picayune, City Council member Arnie Fielkow called on officials to begin the application process for 2009 earlier in the year. In an effort to meet this request, officials listed a public request for proposals in the Times-Picayune on Dec. 8, 9 and 10, which set the deadline for picking up applications as Dec. 5 -- a date that had already past. The deadline for submission also was listed incorrectly in the electronic notice sent directly to the service providers, which left many of them confused, according to the Times-Picayune. Carlos Butler -- Health Policy office manager and the contact who was listed in the public notice -- said that the request for proposals was canceled and referred questions to Lawless and a Nagin spokesperson, who did not respond to requests for comment, the Times-Picayune reports.

Several agencies that receive funding to provide assistance to more than 4,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the city complained in October that they would be unable to operate if their funding continued to face delays as it had in 2008, according to the Times-Picayune. Doug Morgan, who administers Ryan White Program funding for the federal Health Resources and Service Administration, said, "Our hope is that some of the issues they faced in [2008] will not be repeated in [2009]." He added, "I'm unhappy to learn the initial draft of the (requests for proposal) had glitches in it. It sounds like they're close to repeating some of the timelines they had last year, and that makes me a little nervous."

A new notice appeared Tuesday in the Times-Picayune and the deadline for submitting requests was listed as Jan. 9. The notice also will appear Wednesday and Thursday in the newspaper. Dave Munroe of In This Together -- a not-for-profit agency serving 225 patients that was forced to shut down over the summer because of the delay in funding and reopened in October -- said that the agency will not apply for 2009 funding because of "continuing issues of truthfulness, transparency and professionalism" at the city level (Hammer, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 12/17).

In the event that funding runs out, and you require alternatives, please visit www.aids-drugs-online.com

Cipla launches 3-in-1 AIDS drug in India

Cipla has launched an innovative combination of 3 HIV/AIDS drugs, Viraday that needs to be taken just once a day for effective treatment.

The three anti-HIV drugs efavirenz 600 mg, tenofovir 300 mg and emtricitabine 200mg comprise the drug Viraday. Viraday, one tablet of which alone effectively treats a HIV infected person, eliminates the need for 3 separate medicines. This drug has some advantages like, it is less burdensome and it can be taken along with tuberculosis medicines, which could not be done previously.

This combination drug, that was previously available only in the U.S. and European countries, was first launched in India by Cipla on Thursday. In the U.S. and Europe this combination drug costs Rs. 52,800 a month, whereas Cipla will make it accessible at just Rs. 5,200 per month. This combination drug is less toxic than when the drugs are taken separately.

This breakthrough would improve the adherence-how faithfully patients stick to the course of treatment advised by the doctor. “This is a vital issue in HIV treatment to prevent the infection from reaching the advanced stage of AIDS,” said senior consultant in Internal Medicine at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Dr Nalin Nag. He said, “Viraday is very patient friendly, as it requires just one pill a day and freedom from the severe side effect of many other anti HIV drugs.”

The innovative treatment kits and the 3-in-1 pills introduced by Cipla will promote adherence and ease of use. Viraday is the most remarkable accomplishment of Cipla.

Cipla has brought down the price of HIV/AIDS drugs in international market. It supplies HIV/AIDS drugs to majority of African, South Asian, Latin American and several other developing countries.

Source-Medindia
GYT

Find Viraday available at www.aids-drugs-online.com

HIV Funding announcement

Lewis confident in HIV vaccine funding announcement

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are expected to announce joint financing plans on Tuesday to test a possible vaccine for HIV.

It is expected that the vaccine funding announcement will be made in Ottawa when Gates visits the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

'This is an important step forward.'—Former UN Envoy for HIV/AIDS Stephen Lewis on expected HIV vaccine funding announcement

"Gates doesn't put a significant amount of money into vaccine research unless he's absolutely certain that it might yield something down the road," Stephen Lewis, the former UN secretary-general's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, told CBC Newsworld on Monday.

"They are scrupulous, the Bill Gates Foundation, in their assessment of what will work and what will not work. So this is an important step forward, and I honour the government of Canada for being a part of it."

Both the previous Liberal government and the current Conservative government have helped to fund the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

In an exclusive interview with Peter Mansbridge, chief correspondent of CBC News, Gates said he also anticipates a vaccine for HIV in his lifetime.

"This money is going to be spent on some very important causes in this century, and of the top 20 diseases that create the inequity, we will have either had drugs or vaccines to virtually eliminate most all of those," Gates said on Feb. 9. "AIDS is the toughest, but certainly in my lifetime, I'd be very surprised if we don't have a vaccine."

Tuesday's appearance will be another chance for the Prime Minister to address the AIDS issue. Last summer, Harper was criticized for not attending the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, where frontline workers, heads of state and scientists talked about issues including the search for a vaccine, the stigma around HIV and AIDS and circumcision as a form of prevention.

There was speculation that Harper would use the conference to announce new AIDS funding, but he said it wouldn't be the right time to make announcements because the issue had become "so politicized" during the week. Three cabinet ministers, including Health Minister Tony Clement attended the conference, along with Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean.

The federal government has yet to demonstrate that it is willing to fight HIV on other fronts, such as funding the developing of an anti-retroviral drug to export to developing countries — an idea that has been on the books for four years, Lewis said.

It is important to fund all aspects of research: from antiretroviral treatment to keep people alive, to the search for microbicides to help protect women, to a vaccine, he added.

Microbicide setback

In one area of research hoped fight HIV/AIDS, scientists are developing vaginal microbicides, which are aimed at preventing sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections when applied topically. Scientists hope that women could be encouraged to apply them without their partner's knowledge, to reduce the risk of infection when men refuse to wear condoms.

However, in January, researchers halted studies in Africa and India of a microbicide developed in Canada after women using the gel showed a higher risk of infection rather than lower.

A microbicide likely won't be available for use for at least five years, and a vaccine 10 years, Lewis said, because HIV is so artful at outwitting scientific efforts.

The halted trial was a setback, but three other microbicide products are being tested in trials and others are in the pipeline, he said.