AIDS Vaccine Week articles from August 2003

AIDS Vaccine Week archives from August 2003

FDA approves St. Jude safety trial for second part of three-part HIV vaccine.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin testing another part of its HIV vaccine regimen. The hospital will now begin...

DNA vaccines enhance cellular immune response to SIV Gag.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An enhanced cellular immune response against SIV Gag was induced by immunization with DNA vaccines expressing assembly and release-defective SIV Gag proteins. "Codon-optimized genes were synthesized...

Novel adenovirus-based SIV vaccine effective in macaques.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - A novel adenovirus-based vaccine against the simian version of HIV (SIV) has delivered promising results in a macaque model of infection, researchers in the...

Interferon resistance gene needed for modified vaccinia virus Ankara replication.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Germany have identified an interferon (IFN) resistance gene whose expression is critical for modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) replication....

60 Million Africans affected, says UNAIDS executive director.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- By continuing to devastate Africa's economies, communities, and development, HIV/AIDS has undoubtedly become Africa's biggest challenge. "Sixty million Africans have been touched by AIDS in the most...

Company begins U.S. licensing process for VScan HIV Rapid Test Kit.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medical Services International, Inc., (MSITF) announced it has begun the process with the appropriate regulatory agencies in the United States regarding the introduction and licensing of the company's...

Revised guidelines will ease selection of HIV/AIDS treatments.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new update of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-Infected Adults and Adolescents will make it easier for clinicians and...

Finnish company announces alliance for AIDS vaccine research.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- FIT Biotech Plc and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) have entered into a public-private research partnership to evaluate FIT Biotech's investigational vaccine to prevent AIDS. ...

Second China distributor added for HIV tests.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Calypte Biomedical Corporation (CYPT), the developer and marketer of the only two U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved HIV-1 antibody tests for use with urine samples, announced that it has...

Editorial discusses pharmaceutical interests vs. AIDS in Africa.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The appointment of Randall Tobias as the U.S. government's global AIDS co-ordinator is analyzed in a recent editorial published by a major medical journal. Tobias will head up a $15 billion program...

Scientists document increasing reports of second infection.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Evidence is growing that "superinfection" with more than one strain of HIV may be more common than previously thought, experts said at an international AIDS conference. Specialists say such cases,...

Experts: It's more expensive to not treat HIV.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A leading economist dismissed arguments that treating HIV in developing countries is not cost-effective and increases the virus' resistance, saying it is more expensive not to treat the virus that...

Pharmaceutical company offers financial aid to state ADAPs.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that it will offer a $20 million financial aid package to state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP) to help them cut their patient waiting lists and avoid new program...

Fighting AIDS, TB, malaria top priority, Annan tells officials gathered in France.
August 4, 2003... 2003 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Turning the tide on AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is a priority second to none, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message to government ministers gathered in Paris for an...

Vector constructed from chimeric SIV and HIV characterized.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A vpr vector constructed from chimeric simian and human immunodeficiency virus has been characterized. "Chimeric simian and human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIVs) are useful toot for investigating...

Therapeutic vaccination to block receptor-ligand interactions possible.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The development of a therapeutic vaccine to block receptor-ligand interactions is possible, say researchers in Switzerland. According to published research from Switzerland, "Many chronic diseases...

Vaccine immunity to pathogenic fungi overcomes requirement for CD4 help.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vaccine immunity to pathogenic fungi overcomes the requirement for CD4 help in exogenous antigen presentation to CD8+ T cells. "Systemic fungal infections with primary and opportunistic pathogens...

Rwanda gets US$2.8 million for HIV/AIDS control.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The African Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$2.8 million grant to finance Rwanda's national HIV/AIDS control plan. The grant is expected to enhance the country's institutional capacities...

Is there an alternative to expensive testing for AIDS management?
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- President Bush has made his first official trip to Africa, one of the areas expected to benefit from his pledge of $15 billion over 5 years to help countries combat HIV/AIDS. The countries comprising...

Technology measures enzyme activity associated with AIDS.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc., (CBTE) was notified by the United States Patent and Trademark Office that the claims made in its patent application, entitled "Measuring Viral Reverse Transcriptase...

American officials launch Bush's AIDS initiative in Haiti.
August 11, 2003... 2003 AUG 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Haiti has become the first country to implement a program spearheaded by President Bush to stem mother-to-child HIV/AIDS transmission. The mother-to-child program is part of Bush's proposal to...

Seemingly paradoxical activity of HIV Vpr explained.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An explanation for the seemingly paradoxical activity of the HIV Vpr protein has been provided. "Retroviruses must gain access to the host cell nucleus for subsequent replication and viral...

Nef-induced macrophage protein release enables HIV infection of resting T cells.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The HIV Nef protein elicits the release of macrophage factors that render resting T cells permissive to infection. "All primate lentiviruses (HIV-1, HIV-2, SIV) encode Nef proteins, which are...

Johns Hopkins, Save the Children implement Malawi program.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new HIV/AIDS prevention program in Malawi known as "The Bridge" will engage local organizations and stakeholders to move Malawians to a more healthy future by promoting practices and behaviors that...

Novel viral protein plays role in HIV RNA transport.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel viral nuclear kinesin-like protein appears to be involved in HIV RNA transport. "The Rev protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is essential for the nucleocytoplasmic...

Mechanism of C-peptide HIV inhibitors elucidated.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The molecular activity of C-peptide HIV inhibitors has been elucidated. "While it has been established that peptides modeling the C-helical region of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gp41 are...

HIV rising among gay, bisexual men.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The number of newly diagnosed cases of HIV among gay and bisexual men rose in 2002 for the third straight year - a disturbing turnaround from the 1990s that health officials say reflects growing...

Scottish study reveals cancer risk of HIV.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HIV patients over the last 20 years have been far more likely to develop cancer than the population as a whole, according to a Scottish study. Before the advent of antiretroviral therapy, which...

Researchers find growing HIV cases at N.C. colleges.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers are alarmed by a recent outbreak of HIV among college students in North Carolina in which 53 male students - most of them black - have contracted the virus. University of North...

CDC's new plan faces mounting criticism from AIDS activists.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Workshops on safe sex in San Francisco's Mission District. HIV-prevention skits developed by teenagers in Chicago. A ministry that counsels black women in Baltimore, where syphilis rates are shockingly...

National conference echoes themes of new initiative.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Findings released at the 2003 National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta demonstrate how implementation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new HIV initiative, which emphasizes HIV...

CDC unveils data system for HIV cases.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. government is unveiling a new surveillance system to better track HIV infections, scrapping an existing method that doesn't indicate how recently patients were infected. The new system no...

Positive results reported from first clinical trial of recombinant human gelatin.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- FibroGen, Inc., announced positive results from the first clinical safety study of recombinant human gelatin, finding the study material safe and well tolerated at all doses tested. The data...

NIH signs cooperation agreement with Italian institute.
August 18, 2003... 2003 AUG 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. National Institutes of Health has signed an agreement with a top Italian health institute to step up research cooperation on cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases. The letter of intent...

First human tests under way of HIV vaccine pioneered at UNC.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The world's first human test of a vaccine against the prevalent subtype of HIV in sub-Saharan African and Asia, where millions have the virus that causes AIDS, is now under way. The clinical trial...

Lipopeptide MALP-2 effective adjuvant for mucosal delivery of HIV-1 protein.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Lipopeptide MALP-2 acts as an effective adjuvant for mucosal delivery of the HIV-1 Tat protein. "A major requirement for HIV/AIDS research is the development of a mucosal vaccine that stimulates...

$13 million grant puts new herpes-based AIDS vaccine on fast track.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In an unlikely twist in the fight against AIDS, scientists have re-engineered a herpes virus - stripping most of its DNA and replacing it with small snippets of DNA from the AIDS virus - in a bid to...

Trials of new HIV vaccine begin in U.S., South Africa.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- AlphaVax, Inc., announced the beginning of the first human trials of a vaccine using the company's novel ArV vaccine technology for HIV in the United States and South Africa. "The initiation of...

AIDS comeback makes health officials change prevention strategy.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Americans became complacent about safe sex. Revolutionary new drugs allowed HIV-infected people to live longer. A new generation of gay men entered their 20s without the memory of the early days of...

U.N. provides multimillion dollar grant to fight AIDS in South Africa.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The South African government has approved a long-delayed US$41 million grant from the United Nations to help combat the AIDS pandemic ravaging the country, officials say. The grant includes money...

IAVI hails start of trial in South Africa and U.S. to test AIDS vaccine.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The nonprofit International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) hailed the start of a human trial in South Africa and the U.S. to test AlphaVax, Inc.'s candidate vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS. This is...

Company's second quarter revenues largely attributable to NIAID, NMRC contracts.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GenVec, Inc., (GNVC) reported a second quarter net loss of $6.0 million or $0.26 per share compared to a net loss of $6.9 million or $0.32 per share in the comparable quarter of 2002. For the 6...

Combined chemotherapy with high-dose methotrexate effective against HIV PEL.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Combined chemotherapy with high-dose methotrexate is effective against primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). PEL "is a rare KSHV/HHV8-associated high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of B-cell...

Previous HCV treatment reduces risk of liver toxicity during HIV treatment.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Previous treatment for hepatitis C reduces the risk of liver toxicity during HIV treatment in coinfected patients. "Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an independent risk factor for...

HIV strains in Chad have high genetic diversity.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HIV strains in Chad are genetically heterogeneous. In a recent study from France, "the genetic diversity of HIV-1 strains in Chad was documented with a total of 107 samples from patients attending...

Age affects symptom reporting in HIV patients.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Age affects symptom reporting in HIV patients. "Symptom recognition is critical for patient care but has been little studied in older HIV-infected individuals," researchers in the United States...

Urban MSMs in their 50s have high HIV prevalence.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Urban gay and bisexual men in their fifth decade of life have a high rate of HIV infection. In a recent study, researchers in the United States examined "HIV prevalence and risk behavior data for...

Exocytic granules from cytoxic T cells do not carry CAF.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A key anti-HIV protein is not found in exocytic granules from cytotoxic T cells. "In HIV infection, CD8+ cells show cytotoxic and noncytotoxic anti-HIV activity," scientists in the United States...

Rare HLA supertypes linked to slow HIV progression.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Uncommon HLA supertypes are associated with slow disease progression in HIV patients. "The highly polymorphic human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecules help to determine the specificity and...

Oxandrolone may improve survival in HIV wasting syndrome patients.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Oxandrolone may reduce the mortality risk for patients with HIV-related lipodystrophy. Researchers in the United States "examined data from a large cohort of HIV-infected persons to demonstrate...

Maternal HIV treatment can cause mitochondrial damage in children.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Maternal HIV treatment can cause mitochondrial damage in children, although the clinical relevance of this finding is still unclear. "Although children born to HIV-infected (HIV+) women receiving...

Factors linked to condom use in South Africa identified.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Factors linked to condom use in South Africa have been identified. "Prior research in Africa suggests that personally knowing someone with HIV/AIDS or who died of AIDS (PWA) may positively...

Needle exchange programs reduce risky behavior.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NEPs reduce risky behavior by injecting drug users (IDUs) In a recent study, scientists in the United States "used meta-analysis to examine cumulatively needle exchange program (NEP)...

Social network HIV prevention programs effective in Russia, Eastern Europe.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Social network programs have been effective at reducing HIV infection in Russia and parts of Eastern Europe. "HIV prevention, by intervening within social networks, is potentially important but...

HIV seroprevalence remains high among injection drug users in Thailand.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HIV seroprevalence remains high among drug users in Thailand. Researchers in the United States conducted a study to "determine sociodemographic and sexual and drug use risk factors for HIV...

Electrical stimulation selectively kills HIV-infected cells.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Electrical stimulation selectively kills HIV-infected cells. "Although drug therapy for AIDS is available, problems such as side effects associated with drug therapy and the appearance of...

HIV protease inhibitors impaire beta-cell glucose sensing.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Beta-cell glucose sensing is impaire by HIV protease inhibitor (PI) treatment. HIV PIs "acutely and reversibly inhibit the insulin-responsive glucose transporter Glut 4, leading to peripheral...

Immune activation linked to CD4 cell loss in HAART-treated HIV patients.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Persistent immune activation underlies CD4 cell loss in HAART-treated HIV patients. According to recent research from the United States, "to evaluate the relationship between T-cell turnover,...

Multiple-drug rescue therapy effective.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- MDRT is effective for preventing mortality in HIV patients. "To characterize survival and to compare rates of disease progression to death of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients,...

Primary genotypic T-20 resistance rare in subtype B, non-B HIV strains.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Primary genotypic resistance to T-20 is rare in both subtype B and non-B HIV strains. "Enfuvirtide (T-20) is the lead compound of the new class of antiretroviral drugs called fusion inhibitors,"...

In developed countries, TB coinfection does not hasten HIV progression.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In developed countries with easy access to anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs, TB coinfection does not hasten HIV disease progression. TB "enhances HIV replication in vitro, but its impact on HIV...

Extended rifampin treatment reduces TB recurrence risk in HIV-endemic areas.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Extended rifampin treatment reduces the risk of TB recurrence in HIV-endemic regions. Scientists in Switzerland "reviewed 47 prospective studies of recurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) after...

Brazil threatens to break AIDS drugs patents.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Budgetary restrictions are driving Brazil's government to once again threaten to strip AIDS drugs patents if pharmaceutical companies do not cut prices, officials said. The move seeks to protect...

Group's threat to deregister AIDS drug throws government program into doubt.
August 25, 2003... 2003 AUG 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Threats by South Africa's Medicines Control Council to partially withdraw approval of a key AIDS drug have cast doubt on the future of efforts to prevent HIV infections in newborns. The council...