AIDS Vaccine Week articles from February 2004

AIDS Vaccine Week archives from February 2004

Leading AIDS experts criticize U.S.-sponsored HIV vaccine trial in Thailand.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Several national AIDS experts criticized a U.S. government-sponsored clinical research trial of an AIDS vaccine in Thailand in a recent journal report. The 22 researchers said that there are no...

Vaccinia virus DIs expressing SIV gag controls SHIV in monkeys.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Intravenous inoculation of replication-deficient recombinant vaccinia virus DIs expressing simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) gag controls highly pathogenic SHIV in monkeys. "To be effective, a...

IgG antibodies confer sterilizing protection to SHIV-infected macaques.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Transfer of neutralizing IgG antibodies to macaques 6 hours (but not 24 hours) after SHIV infection conferred sterilizing protection. According to a study from the United States, "Passive transfer...

Clinton: Costs of AIDS tests will plummet in Africa, Caribbean.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An agreement with five medical technology companies could help reduce the costs of treating HIV-infected people in Africa and the Caribbean by up to 80%, former President Bill Clinton said in announcing...

Indian gay groups to fight AIDS among homosexuals, street children.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- India's secretive gay community is emerging to fight the fast spread of the AIDS disease among homosexuals and street children. At least 10 homosexual groups have formed a common platform called...

Partnership extended with vaccine research groups.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Targeted Genetics Corporation (TGEN) announced a 3-year extension of its collaboration agreement with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and Columbus Children's Research Institute (CCRI)...

To avoid detection, HIV disrupts immune cell migration.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The HIV protein Nef sparked intensive research after observations that patients with a rare strain of HIV lacking Nef took a very long time to develop AIDS symptoms. Nef has been linked to molecules...

UNAIDS responds to Kenyan charges of HIV prevalence overestimation.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Recent news reports claiming that UNAIDS and World Health Organization (WHO) HIV/AIDS estimates are "overestimated" are unfounded, according to the United Nations group. The reports cited a...

Opioid-regulated lymphocyte genes identified.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Opioid-regulated lymphocyte genes have been identified. "Morphine was previously found to compromise the chemotactic mobility of leukocytic cells toward inflammatory sites as well as induce the...

Multispecific mucosal cytotoxic T cells fail to control SIVmac239.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Multispecific vaccine-induced mucosal cytotoxic T lymphocytes reduce acute-phase viral replication but fail in long-term control of simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac239. According to published...

Gene product restricts HIV-1 replication in resting CD4+ lymphocytes.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The gene product Murr1 restricts HIV-1 replication in resting CD4+ lymphocytes. "Although human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infects quiescent and proliferating CD4+ lymphocytes, the virus...

NIH research agreement signed to develop rapid vaccine production system.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Dow Chemical Company (DOW) has entered into a 4-year, $5.7 million cooperative research agreement from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to apply new technology for rapid development of...

Media organizations unite to fight HIV/AIDS.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Leaders of more than 20 media companies from around the world agreed to join a multimillion dollar campaign January 14, 2004 to educate people about AIDS via the airwaves. "This is one of the...

Thailand rejects criticism of AIDS vaccine trial.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Thailand dismissed criticism by American HIV researchers that a massive test of a possible AIDS vaccine on thousands of healthy Thais would fail, saying the U.S.-funded trial still has hopes of breaking...

AIDS activists fight for more affordable drugs.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Thailand activists on January 17, 2004 urged AIDS sufferers and their supporters worldwide to use a legal victory against a U.S. pharmaceuticals giant in their fight for cheaper and more available drugs...

HIV vector T-cell transduction efficiency is not pseudotype-dependent.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The T-cell transduction efficiency of HIV vectors - unlike murine leukemia virus (MLV) vectors - is not pseudotype-dependent. "The success of several gene therapeutic approaches requires efficient...

To tackle poverty: Empower women and educate girls, U.N. leader says.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The greatest weapon in the war against poverty is the empowerment of women and the education of girls, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said January 15, 2004, calling for international...

Prototype of a portable detector for protein diagnosis developed.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "POCKET" is the prototype of a novel portable and battery-driven protein detector that has been developed at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This simple and inexpensive, yet reliable...

Role of dendritic cell C-type lectin receptors in HIV pathogenesis reviewed.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The role of dendritic cell C-type lectin receptors in HIV pathogenesis has been reviewed. "Dendritic cells play a major role in HIV pathogenesis," immunologists in Australia explained. "Epithelial...

Serum SDF-1 inactivated during HIV infection.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Serum SDF-1 is inactivated during HIV pathogenesis. "The chemokine stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) can block human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) infection in vitro by binding to the CXC...

Incorporating HIV prevention into the medical care of persons living with HIV.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Recommendations for preventing the spread of HIV by HIV-infected individuals have been released in a recent issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases. According to recent research from the United...

Treatment-induced recovery of HIV-specific immunity more extensive in children.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Recovery of HIV-specific immunity is more extensive in HAART-treated children compared with adult patients. "Gag-specific CD4 proliferative responses correlate inversely with HIV-1 RNA levels in...

AIDS activists hail victory as U.S. drug company relinquishes patent.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Thai activists have urged AIDS sufferers and their supporters worldwide to use a legal victory against a U.S. pharmaceuticals giant in their fight for cheaper and more available drugs against the deadly...

Poor AIDS patients forced to make life-and-death choices.
February 9, 2004... 2004 FEB 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Impoverished families with more than one member suffering from AIDS face wrenching decisions about who to keep alive with antiretroviral drugs because the medicine remains too costly, activists at the...

Patient enrollment completed in HIV vaccine trial.
February 16, 2004... 2004 FEB 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Epimmune, Inc., (EPMN) announced that it has completed patient enrollment in the phase I/II therapeutic HIV vaccine trial of its EP HIV-1090 vaccine candidate. All 10 patients in the fourth and...

Broadly cross-reactive HIV-neutralizing antibody Fab identified.
February 16, 2004... 2004 FEB 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have identified a broadly cross-reactive HIV-neutralizing human monoclonal antibody Fab by sequential antigen panning of a phage display library. "Identification of broadly...

Action needed to avoid HIV drug resistance in Africa.
February 16, 2004... 2004 FEB 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- We should stop and think about the risks of resistance, and ways of minimizing them, before increasing access to antiretroviral therapy in Africa, argue Warren Stevens, health economist; Steve Kaye,...

Cheaper drugs force life-and-decisions for poor AIDS patients.
February 16, 2004... 2004 FEB 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Impoverished families with more than one member suffering from AIDS face wrenching decisions about who to keep alive with anti-retroviral drugs because the medicine remains too costly, activists at the...

Biopharmaceutical company transformation completed.
February 16, 2004... 2004 FEB 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In line with its strategy to become a fully integrated drug development company using RNAi technology and DNA-based vaccines, CytRx Corporation (CYTR) announced that it will cease funding its existing...

Gene research center to open in North Carolina.
February 16, 2004... 2004 FEB 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- North Carolina A&T (N.C. AT&T) State University is starting a gene center that will research diseases that disproportionately affect minorities. The university will use a $4.6 million, 5-year grant...

In Mozambique, stigma remains obstacle to treatment for HIV+ women.
February 16, 2004... 2004 FEB 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Maria, 24, has three children and is 1 month pregnant with her fourth baby, but is adamant that she does not want to continue with the pregnancy. "I've got three children already, I'm unemployed,...

European, U.S. HIV prescribers rank top treatment goals.
February 16, 2004... 2004 FEB 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Prescribers of HIV/AIDS medications in Europe and North America agree that long-term efficacy and avoiding resistance are the primary treatment goals for people living with HIV. However, they...

Biopharmaceutical company announces changes to management and board.
February 16, 2004... 2004 FEB 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- VaxGen, Inc., (VXGN) announced that three of its senior executives have resigned from the company, effective February 1, to pursue the formation of a not-for-profit foundation for the advancement of...

Combinational therapy applied to develop HIV-1 vaccines.
February 23, 2004... 2004 FEB 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists are applying combinational therapy for HIV-1 eradication and vaccination. According to a study from the United States, "Eradication of HIV would avert the pandemic high rates of deaths...

HIV-1 protein induces diverse CD8+ T cell response.
February 23, 2004... 2004 FEB 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The HIV-1 chimeric protein CR3 expressed by poxviral vectors induces a diverse CD8+ T cell response in mice and is antigenic for peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from HIV-positive patients....

HIV Vpu overcomes dominant host restriction in human cells.
February 23, 2004... 2004 FEB 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The HIV Vpu protein allows the virus to overcome dominant host restriction in human cells. "Human cells resist viral infections by a variety of mechanisms. Viruses must overcome host cell...

IND application filed for unique HIV vaccine.
February 23, 2004... 2004 FEB 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- CytRx Corporation (CYTR), Advanced BioScience Laboratories (ABL), and University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) announced that ABL has filed an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) with...

Prevention, protection efforts failing women and girls, U.N. says.
February 23, 2004... 2004 FEB 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Existing HIV prevention and protection efforts are failing to stem infections among women and girls because they do not take into account such issues as gender relations and sexual behaviour, according...

BAF is a host component of HIV virions; binds Gag and matrix.
February 23, 2004... 2004 FEB 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) is a crucial host component of HIV virions. BAF "is a conserved human chromatin protein exploited by retroviruses," virologists in the United States...

Evolution of HIV Env V3 loop during R5-X4 transition clarified.
February 23, 2004... 2004 FEB 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sequence changes in the HIV Env V3 loop during the R5-to-X4 transition have been identified. "Early in infection, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) generally uses the CCR5 chemokine...

"Kissing" RNA and HIV-1: Unraveling the details.
February 23, 2004... 2004 FEB 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A subtle structural change that may play a role in the molecular machinery for making HIV-1 (the virus that causes AIDS) has been identified by scientists from the National Institute of Standards and...