                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      November 21, 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
of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"FDA Gives Approval to Glaxo, Sequus to Market Separate AIDS 
Therapies"
"Doctor Indicted Over Cancer Drug"
"Across the USA: South Dakota"
"Fighting the Death Sentence"
"AIDS Researchers Meet to Brainstorm"
"Moral Victories for Riley, Heat Players"
"OncoRx Holds Patent Pending Rights to 3-TC For..."
"Detection of Diverse HIV-1 Genetic Subtypes in the USA"
"AIDS Watch: Talking about AIDS"
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"FDA Gives Approval to Glaxo, Sequus to Market Separate AIDS 
Therapies"
Wall Street Journal (11/21/95) P. B12;  Langreth, Robert
     The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Glaxo 
Wellcome PLC's AIDS drug Epivir (3TC, lamivudine) for use in 
combination with AZT.  The extraordinarily rapid approval comes 
only weeks after an FDA advisory committee recommended such 
action.  Glaxo announced that the newly-approved drug will be 
available in about a week, and will be similarly priced to AZT, 
which can cost several thousands of dollars each year.  
Meanwhile, Sequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. has also received 
accelerated marketing approval for its Doxil, a treatment for 
AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma.  The encapsulated form of edicine 
doxorubicin will be used by individuals who either do not respond
to or cannot tolerate existing treatments.  Under the accelerated
approval system, both Sequus and Glaxo must undertake 
post-marketing studies to confirm the efficacy of their 
therapies.  Related Stories: Washington Post (11/21) P. A3; New 
York Times (11/21) P. D2; Philadelphia Inquirer; USA Today 
(11/21) P. 4B; Washington Times (11/21) P. A3; Investor's 
Business Daily (11/21) P. A7
      
"Doctor Indicted Over Cancer Drug"
Washington Post (11/21/95) P. A11;  Schwartz, John
     Houston physician Stanislaw R. Burzynski was indicted Monday on 
75 counts of mail fraud and violations of federal medical laws.  
U.S. Attorney Gaynelle Griffin Jones claims that Burzynski and 
the Burzynski Research Institute introduced an unapproved 
cancer-fighting drug called "antineoplastons" into interstate 
commerce, filed false and misleading claims with health insurers,
and disobeyed a court order barring interstate trade of the drug 
without following U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 
regulations.  Critics assert that the doctor played on the fears 
of cancer and AIDS patients, and that he charged his patients 
$40 million for the drug between 1988 and 1994.  Burzynski's 
claims of curing seemingly hopeless cancer cases with
his originally human urine-derived drug have been widely 
publicized, yet researchers have not been able to duplicate the 
doctor's findings, in part, because of his lack of cooperation.
      
"Across the USA: South Dakota"
USA Today (11/21/95) P. 9A
     South Dakota Gov. Janklow has declared Dec. 1 as AIDS Awareness 
Day in the state.  A total of 95 cases of AIDS and 247 cases of 
HIV have been reported in South Dakota in the past decade.
      
"Fighting the Death Sentence"
New York Times (11/21/95) P. A21;  Sullivan, Andrew
     In an op-ed column in the New York Times, Andrew Sullivan, editor
of The New Republic, questions whether we are behind the times in
terms of the HIV epidemic.  The atmosphere around the disease, he
claims, had often made hopefulness taboo.  Although medical 
science has found not a cure, treatments are now available which 
can extend the lives of HIV-infected persons to a point when 
perhaps even better therapies will be available.  In light of 
this new situation of increased optimism, Sullivan writes, two 
fundamental changes must occur.  In addition to distributing 
safer sex information, Sullivan argues that more information 
should be spread about promising new treatments.  He also states 
that anyone at risk for HIV who does not know their status should
be tested both now and every six months.  There will be no clear,
defining instant when victory is declared--there is instead, a 
gradual beginning that we may not notice until it has already 
happened, Sullivan concludes.
      
"AIDS Researchers Meet to Brainstorm"
Houston Chronicle (11/20/95) P9. 7C;  SoRelle, Ruth
     In the fifth such meeting in as many years, nearly 50 
international AIDS researchers recently gathered in Houston to 
discuss methods of boosting immune systems that have been ravaged
by HIV.  The meeting was developed by Project Inform, and without
it, many scientists say they would not have taken some dramatic 
steps that could bring about useful treatments for the disease.  
Martin Delaney, a founder of Project Inform, explains that the 
forum was developed because he thought researchers needed an 
opportunity to challenge and support one another and develop 
collaborations.  "This should serve as a paradigm for researchers
in all diseases," comments the University of Pittsburgh's Suzanne
Ildstad, who is scheduled to perform a baboon-to-human bone 
marrow transplant next December.  The meetings are attended by 
scientists, doctors, regulators from the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration and the National Institutes of Health, as well as 
people with HIV and AIDS.
      
"Moral Victories for Riley, Heat Players"
Miami Herald (11/20/95) P. 1B;  Jervis, Rick
     On Sunday, six members of the Miami Heat basketball team 
distributed turkeys to needy families and signed autographs at 
Miami's Ninth Street Mall.  Meanwhile, across town, Heat coach 
Pat Riley shot baskets and chatted with 65 youths at South 
Beach's Shore Club Hotel as part of an event for Project 
Cradle--a University of Miami project that helps HIV-infected 
children.  The outing, which was co-sponsored by Loews Hotel and 
the Community Alliance Against AIDS, featured such games as ring 
toss, putt-putt golf, and face painting.  "We just want to get 
involved," said Riley.  "It helps [the children] understand there
are people here who care."
      
"OncoRx Holds Patent Pending Rights to 3-TC For..."
Business Wire (11/20/95)
     Exclusive rights to a U.S. patent application for anti-HIV and 
anti-HBV drug 3TC (lamivudine) are held by OncoRx Inc. for the 
treatment of hepatitis B virus.  Yale University filed the patent
application, but OncoRx licensed the exclusive rights from Yale 
in 1994 and has also licensed exclusive rights to other antiviral
agents against HBV and HIV.
      
"Detection of Diverse HIV-1 Genetic Subtypes in the USA"
Lancet (11/04/95) Vol. 346, No. 8984, P. 1198;  Brodine, S.K.;  
Mascola, J.R.;  Weiss, P.J.; et al.
     Although HIV-1 subtype B prevails in North America and Europe, 
Brodine et al. detail in the British medical journal The Lancet 
the discovery of HIV-1 subtypes A, D, and E in five U.S. military
personnel who acquired their infections during deployments 
overseas.  According to the authors, these cases--the first 
non-HIV-1 subtype B ones to be documented in native U.S. 
residents and the first reported introduction of subtypes A and E
into this country--evidence the predictable spread of various 
HIV-1 subtypes to areas of previously limited genetic diversity. 
This dispersal may have serious implications for the epidemiology
of the AIDS epidemic and for the development and implementation 
of vaccine trials, Brodine et al. conclude.
      
"AIDS Watch: Talking about AIDS"
Men's Fitness (11/95) Vol. 11, No. 11, P. 28
     AWARE: Positive Health Talk Radio is the only news and talk 
program in the United States that is devoted entirely to 
HIV-related issues.  The program is broadcast in such cities as 
Chicago, St. Louis, San Diego, Philadelphia, and Provincetown, 
MA.
      
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