                     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
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Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"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"
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"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.
      
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