AIDS

HIV research summit seeks new discovery path

John Carroll — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:24:33 -0400

Twenty-five years after the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus, top scientists from around the world gathered at the Pasteur Institute to mark major advances in the field and come to terms with some of the grim realities that now afflict their work. Swiftly identifying the virus that causes AIDS and the development of a drug cocktail in the ‘90s were both signal achievements. But the scientists also called for new thinking, new researchers and new money to address recent defeats in finding a vaccine and a vaginal gel needed to stop the spread of the disease.

"We still don't completely understand the various forms of the virus. It's more complicated for us than we thought," said France's Luc Montagnier, who helped discover the link between HIV and AIDS.

Jean-Francois Delfraissy, director of France's National Agency for AIDS Research, called for a new look at the cellular biology at work and Alice Dautry, head of the Pasteur Institute, demanded a multidisciplinary approach that could tackle every problem from all directions.

"Some fundamental biological questions are needed (to be addressed) before some vaccines go forward, or we tend to waste money, produce a depressing atmosphere in the field and take money away from the basic science that is needed right now," said AIDS pioneer Robert Gallo.

- read the article from AFP

Scientists create cheaper versions of anti-HIV molecule

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:59:59 -0500

Researchers have overcome one of the chief obstacles to developing a vaginal gel to protect poor women from HIV infection. Scientists at Case Western Reserve University have invented cheaper versions of an anti-HIV molecule known as PSC-Rantes, which prevents viral entry into cells. The development should make cheaper gels available.

"We always felt we had something very promising here," said Dr. Michael Lederman, the director of the Case Center for AIDS Research based at University Hospitals. "We have been effectively dealing with those challenges and resolving them. That is what it takes to develop a strategy. When we started this, no one thought this would make any sense."

- read this report

AIDS scientist backed on new vaccine approach

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:59:59 -0400

The famed AIDS scientist Dr. Robert Gallo of the University of Maryland's Institute of Human Virology has won a $15 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to pursue his work on an AIDS vaccine. In animal studies, the experimental vaccine has created antibodies that work against various strains of HIV. The vaccine is designed to defeat the virus's ability to constantly mutate. Baltimore-based Profectus BioSciences--a spin-off of the institute--undertook the animal studies of the vaccine. The Gates Foundation is a major contributor in this field, providing $287 million in grants to 19 AIDS vaccine researchers around the globe.

- see this Baltimore Sun report

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