New HIV research revealed
Steve Johnson
Issue date: 7/23/10 Section: News
SAN JOSE, Calif. - In what could be one of the most significant breakthroughs in the battle against AIDS, researchers announced Monday that a drug produced by Gilead Sciences has provided women with an unprecedented shield against HIV, essentially blocking the disease from infecting them.
The highly anticipated data presented at an AIDS conference in Vienna found that South African women who regularly used a vaginal gel made from the Foster City company's drug, tenofovir, were far less likely to become infected with the AIDS virus than women who used a gel made from a placebo.
Although experts stressed that more studies will be needed to confirm that tenofovir can block the ailment, the findings triggered cheers around the world.
"This is a historic day," said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, which closely tracks AIDS-related studies. "This is an astonishing scientific achievement." Dr. Kevin Fenton, who directs an AIDS program for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, termed the study results "an exciting step forward for HIV prevention." The data not only suggests that "we could soon have a new method to help reduce the heavy toll of HIV among women," Fenton said, but "also give us reason to be very hopeful about the potential of oral antiretroviral medications to prevent HIV infection." Antiretroviral drugs, such as tenofovir, are widely used to help keep those who already have HIV from getting sicker. But this is the first time a drug approved to treat people who already have the deadly disease has shown promise in human tests of also preventing someone from getting HIV.
If the oral medications Fenton mentioned prove similarly useful as barriers to HIV, it could be enormously significant for Gilead. That's because those medications are made from two Gilead drugs: tenofovir, which the company sells under the brand name Viread, and another Gilead drug, Truvada, which contains tenofovir. Data from those studies - involving homosexual men, intravenous drug users and heterosexual couples - is expected within a year or so.
The highly anticipated data presented at an AIDS conference in Vienna found that South African women who regularly used a vaginal gel made from the Foster City company's drug, tenofovir, were far less likely to become infected with the AIDS virus than women who used a gel made from a placebo.
Although experts stressed that more studies will be needed to confirm that tenofovir can block the ailment, the findings triggered cheers around the world.
"This is a historic day," said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, which closely tracks AIDS-related studies. "This is an astonishing scientific achievement." Dr. Kevin Fenton, who directs an AIDS program for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, termed the study results "an exciting step forward for HIV prevention." The data not only suggests that "we could soon have a new method to help reduce the heavy toll of HIV among women," Fenton said, but "also give us reason to be very hopeful about the potential of oral antiretroviral medications to prevent HIV infection." Antiretroviral drugs, such as tenofovir, are widely used to help keep those who already have HIV from getting sicker. But this is the first time a drug approved to treat people who already have the deadly disease has shown promise in human tests of also preventing someone from getting HIV.
If the oral medications Fenton mentioned prove similarly useful as barriers to HIV, it could be enormously significant for Gilead. That's because those medications are made from two Gilead drugs: tenofovir, which the company sells under the brand name Viread, and another Gilead drug, Truvada, which contains tenofovir. Data from those studies - involving homosexual men, intravenous drug users and heterosexual couples - is expected within a year or so.
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