An extended release formulation breaks through by Chael Needle Based on results from the VERxVE study, the FDA recently approved Viramune XR for use in antiretroviral combination therapy to treat HIV-1 infection in adults. “XR” stands for “extended release,” offering patients a one 400mg pill, once-daily dosing option. Until now, Boehringer Ingelheim, makers of Viramune (nevirapine), had offered an immediate-release (IR), 200mg form of the drug with a twice-daily dosing. “Development of the extended-release formulation began in 2004 to provide a once-a-day preparation that was [...]

LifeGuide [Treatment Horizons] Dr. C. Everett Koop Revisits a Time When Neither Treatment nor Testing Existed by Chael Needle Knowing he had to face the micromanaging tendencies and political resistance of cabinet members overseeing his work, then-U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop played a trick when presenting his first AIDS report in 1986. He knew the report would be printed as a brochure on cheap paper, as two to three million copies were envisioned. “But, I also ordered one thousand copies printed on the best [...]

LifeGuide [Treatment Horizons] Therapeutic Vaccines May Change the Treatment Landscape for the Better by Jeannie Gibbs Clinical development of HIV therapeutic vaccine candidate, Vacc-4x, will continue after further analysis of Phase IIb study data revealed a significant viral load decrease in patients on the Vacc-4x treatment arm. Even more substantial was the discovery that viral load set points of these patients did not rebound to pre-HAART levels, which usually occurs after antiretroviral therapy (ART) failure. Results of previous studies of Vacc-4x had been so promising [...]

The Population Council’s lead microbicide candidate moves forward by Chael Needle How do you assemble a microbicide candidate with anti-HIV and other properties? In some cases, much like one of those Mission Impossible-type movies where the leader goes around recruiting one gal who’s good at safecracking, another who is expert at acrobatic feats, and someone who is good behind the wheel, and so on. Except here, instead of Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, and Thandie Newton, the “team” consists of MIV-150, zinc acetate, and a carrageenan [...]

While federal efforts move forward, hepatitis prevention remains unfunded by Larry Buhl During the seemingly interminable debate over health insurance reform, other health legislation was quietly making its way through Congress. Perhaps it was too quiet. In October, 2009 Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) introduced the bipartisan Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer Control and Prevention Act to address the epidemic of hepatitis B and C in the U.S. The bill, with a price tag of $90 million, would have increased the ability of the Centers for [...]

A Treatment for Lipodystrophy-Related Excessive Abdominal Fat Comes of Age by Chael Needle HIV-associated lipodystrophy, abnormalities in metabolism and/or distribution of fat in those living with HIV/AIDS on antiretrovirals, sometimes is characterized by excess abdominal fat. The FDA recently approved a new drug, Egrifta (tesamorelin for injection), that has been shown to reduce excess abdominal fat associated with lipodystrophy in HIV-positive patients. The first and only treatment indicated for this condition, Egrifta is a synthetic analogue of growth hormone releasing factor that acts on the [...]

Two Anti-Cancer Drugs Are Tapped in the Fight Against HIV by Chael Needle New types of drugs are needed in the fight against HIV but some of them are not being developed from scratch. In a lateral-thinking move, drugs that are already approved by the FDA for conditions other than HIV/AIDS are being screened for potential action against the virus. “Drug repositioning” may produce much-needed additions to the armamentarium. Researchers are looking into repositioning two approved anti-cancer drugs. Led by Louis M. Mansky, PhD, professor of [...]

HIV needs errors to survive, but what happens when too many errors are in the mix? by Chael Needle Take HIV’s already high rate of mutation and accelerate it until the viral population collapses. That’s the theory behind a new class of antiviral therapeutics based on viral decay acceleration (VDA), a mechanism developed by biotech Koronis Pharmaceuticals. VDA builds on Nobel Laureate Manfred Eigen’s concept of a “quasispecies.” A “quasispecies” is a population of constantly evolving virus whose survivability depends on its genomic replication error [...]

AIDS Healthcare Foundation Trains a Research Lens on Probiotics by Chael Needle “Probiotics” has become a new buzz word in the dairy aisle—at least two brands of yogurt are touting their presence. Though nowadays the “live and active cultures” associated with probiotics are often removed through pasteurization, they have always been in foods like yogurt, fermented milk and soy-based drinks. Now that they have crossed over into mainstream marketing from the world of complementary and alternative medicine, probiotics look as if they will increase in [...]

NAPWA helps to promote immune-based therapies by Chael Needle At the International AIDS Conference last June, the AIDS Institute and the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) hosted a Community Treatment Research Forum entitled, “Research Advances from Therapeutic HIV Vaccines and Other Immune-Based Therapies.” Presented by researchers and experts in the field, the symposium covered the latest in potential candidates for the AIDS armamentarium. When it comes to AIDS treatments, most are familiar with antiretrovirals—agents that inhibit or interrupt the HIV replication process. While antiretrovirals have [...]