                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      November 9, 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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"FDA Urged to Approve Bristol-Myers AIDS Drug"
"Starting Up From Scratch"
"Yes, Silence Can Equal Death"
"Glaxo Overhauling R & D to Focus on Commercial Potential"
"Canada's Blood System Too Unwieldy, Report Says"
"Chiron Receives New York State Permit to Test HIV Viral Load 
Through Reference Testing Laboratory; Service Now Available 
Nationwide"
"Around the Nation: Kentucky, Nebraska"
"Follicular Dendritic Cells and Human Immunodeficiency Virus 
Infectivity"
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"FDA Urged to Approve Bristol-Myers AIDS Drug"
Wall Street Journal (11/09/95) P. B6
     The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Antiviral Drugs 
Advisory Committee endorsed on Wednesday Bristol-Myers Squibb 
Co.'s drug Zerit (stavudine or d4T) for AIDS patients who no 
longer respond to approved therapies.  Zerit is a nucleoside 
analog, a group of drugs that suppress HIV, as well as a chemical
relation to Glaxo Wellcome's AZT.  The drug was approved for 
limited use in 1994 for patients who either could not tolerate or
did not benefit from existing treatments.  The FDA will probably 
take  final action on Zerit within two to six weeks, according to
David Feigal, FDA director of antiviral drugs.  Related Story: 
New York Times (11/09) P. A26
      
"Starting Up From Scratch"
Financial Times (11/09/95) P. 21;  Green, Daniel
     Triangle Pharmaceuticals, a four-month-old company headed by 
former Burroughs Wellcome staff, is planning to concentrate in 
anti-viral drugs.  Instead of attempting to discover new drugs, 
however, the fledgling company will work on identifying promising
medicines and ushering them through the three major phases of 
clinical trials.  David Barry, chief executive of Triangle, says,
"We'll offer a free service to test potential AIDS drugs," with, 
of course, the first rights to negotiate for acquisition.   Barry
believes the economics of AIDS drugs is changing so that the 
number of drugs will increase faster than spending on treatments.
      
"Yes, Silence Can Equal Death"
Wall Street Journal (11/09/95) P. A21;  Barnes, Mark;  Elovitz, 
Marc E.
     In two separate letters to the editor of the Wall Street Journal,
Mark Barnes and Marc E. Elovitz respond to Helen Mathews Smith's 
Oct. 25 article "The Deadly Politics of AIDS."  According to 
Barnes, the executive director of the AIDS Action Council, Smith 
proposes a mandatory HIV testing program yet she omits both the 
cost of such a project and a plan of how to care for all those 
who would be tested.  In fact, several major medical associations
have denounced such testing as too expensive and an overall 
ineffective method of reaching at-risk individuals.  Furthermore,
Barnes claims that Smith's final statement that "the nation has a
moral duty to care for those who are infected, but the infected 
also have a responsibility to those with whom they share their 
lives--and bodies" clearly demonstrates how "out-of-touch" she is
with both political reality and the AIDS epidemic in face of the 
proposed reductions in many AIDS care and prevention programs.  
Meanwhile, Marc E. Elovitz--the staff counsel for the American 
Civil Liberties Union AIDS Project--notes that Smith promotes 
mandatory testing, but neglects to mention that required 
government HIV-testing sparks fears of discrimination.  These 
fears, which can cause many people to avoid critical health 
services, are very reasonable, Elovitz concludes.
      
"Glaxo Overhauling R & D to Focus on Commercial Potential"
Financial Times (11/09/95) P. 1;  Cookson, Clive
     Glaxo Wellcome announced on Wednesday that it will radically 
overhaul its research and development program in an effort to 
increase productivity.  The company's goal is to market three 
financially important medicines per year from 2000, compared to 
its current average of just one new drug per year.  Glaxo has 
scrapped almost 70 of 160 development projects that did not meet 
its new standards, reduced staff worldwide, and invested heavily 
in automation, and it plans to spend more on collaborations with 
universities and small biotech firms.  Long-term research will 
continue, however, in all the major fields that the company 
pursued before, including work on treatments aimed at the brain 
and nervous system, heart disease and stroke, cancer, respiratory
disorders, and viral illnesses.
      
"Canada's Blood System Too Unwieldy, Report Says"
Toronto Globe and Mail (11/08/95) P. A8
     A report obtained by the Canadian Press states that it would take
Canada's blood system too long to respond to another fatal virus 
because the system is confusing, partially unworkable, and no one
is clearly accountable.  The report--which was prepared for Mr. 
Justice Horace Krever, the head of an inquiry into Canada's 
tainted blood scandal of the 1980s--supports the conclusions of a
safety audit in 1994 that said the blood system was obstructed by
infighting, confusing roles, and no national policy on blood.  
Other findings include the conclusions that the Laboratory Centre
for Disease Control needs greater authority, the mandate of the 
Canadian Blood Agency is unworkable, and that the processes for 
improving product safety are not adequate.  Additionally, the 
report criticizes an agreement made earlier this year by the 
Canadian Red Cross and the Canadian Blood Agency because while it
formalizes the relationship, it does not resolve any structural 
differences between the two agencies.
     
      
"Chiron Receives New York State Permit to Test HIV Viral Load 
Through Reference Testing Laboratory; Service Now Available 
Nationwide"
Business Wire (11/08/95)
     The Chiron Reference Testing Laboratory is currently accepting 
specimens for HIV viral load testing from physicians across the 
country, Chiron Corp. said Wednesday.  The company most recently 
received a permit to test specimens from New York state.  The 
laboratory was created in 1994 to offer access to branched DNA 
technology for viral load testing in HIV-infected patients.
      
"Around the Nation: Kentucky, Nebraska"
Advocate (11/14/95) No. 694, P. 20
     A waterproofing firm in Kentucky has been sued for fraud by the 
state attorney general because the company allegedly tried to 
attract business by telling customers that mildew could cause 
AIDS.  Meanwhile, in other news around the country, the Nebraska 
state appeals court has ruled that HIV-infected persons cannot be
prohibited from becoming foster parents solely on the basis of 
their medical status.
      
"Follicular Dendritic Cells and Human Immunodeficiency Virus 
Infectivity"
Nature (10/26/95) Vol. 377, No. 6551, P. 740;  Heath, Sonya L.;  
Tew, J. Grant;  Tew, John G.; et al.
     Heath et al. studied an in vitro model of the germinal center to 
determine whether follicular dendritic cells (FDC)-retained HIV 
could cause infection.  Viral infection is followed by the 
convergence of large amounts of HIV on FDC in the follicles of 
secondary lymphoid tissues.  The researchers discovered that the 
HIV on FDC is extremely infectious, and report that FDC can make 
neutralized HIV infectious even in the presence of enormous 
amounts of neutralizing antibody.  FDC, they conclude, may 
provide a means for which HIV infection can proceed when in the 
presence of these antibodies--a finding which may have 
significant implications in the design of therapeutic and vaccine
strategies, whatever the mechanism involved.
      
AIDS Daily News will not publish on Friday, November 10, in 
observance of the Veterans Day holiday.  Publication will resume
on Monday, November 13.
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