Antiretroviral News and Research

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Countries should find balance between affordable drugs, development incentives, WHO Director-General says in letter to Thai Health Minister

World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan in a letter to Thai Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said that although the Thai government was fully within its rights to issue a compulsory license for Abbott Laboratories antiretroviral drug Kaletra, countries should find the "right balance" between providing affordable medicines and incentives for drug companies to develop new treatments.

19 Feb 2007

Marijuana gives relief from chronic pain for AIDS sufferers

Researchers have found that people suffering from chronic foot pain as a result of the AIDS virus gained relief from smoking marijuana.

14 Feb 2007

Maraviroc to receive accelerated review in U.S. and Europe

Pfizer announced today that marketing authorization applications for maraviroc will receive accelerated review in both the United States and Europe. Accelerated reviews are granted to potential medicines that, if approved, would represent significant improvements over current therapies.

13 Feb 2007

World Bank to provide Thailand with $750,000 for HIV/AIDS programs

The World Bank plans to provide Thailand with a $750,000, three-year grant aimed at providing HIV-positive people with increased access to antiretroviral drugs, Viroj Tangcharoensathien, program director for international health policy at the country's Ministry of Public Health, said recently.

13 Feb 2007

Determinants of disease presentation and outcome during cryptococcosis

CRNS and the Institut Pasteur conducted research in France on patients diagnosed with cryptococcosis which ranks second among fatal opportunistic infections in patients infected by HIV and who are profoundly immunosuppressed.

12 Feb 2007

WHO cautions Thailand against issuing compulsory license for antiretroviral Kaletra

The World Health Organization on Thursday cautioned the Thai government on its decision to allow the country to produce a lower-cost version of Abbott Laboratories' antiretroviral drug Kaletra by granting a compulsory license for the drug, the Bangkok Post reports.

7 Feb 2007

Washington County records four cases of drug-resistant HIV

Four men in King County, Washington, have been diagnosed with a strain of HIV that is resistant to at least two types of antiretroviral drugs, and health officials on Thursday said they are concerned the strain could spread, the Seattle Times reports.

7 Feb 2007

Institute of Materia Medica and TB Alliance partner to tackle tuberculosis

The Institute of Materia Medica (IMM), a member of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), a not-for-profit, product development partnership accelerating the discovery and development of new TB drugs, today announced plans to pursue a joint research partnership to develop promising, novel anti-tuberculosis agents.

31 Jan 2007

Novartis' day in court could leave millions without AIDS drugs

The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis is in court in India this week challenging the country's patent laws.

30 Jan 2007

Uganda plans to test 500,000 people for HIV annually by 2012

The Uganda AIDS Commission in a report released last week said it plans to test and counsel 500,000 people for HIV annually by 2012 and provide opportunistic infection prevention and treatment services to 90% of HIV-positive people in the country, Uganda's New Vision reports.

30 Jan 2007

Startling results from first study of HIV dementia on the Africa

An international study led by Johns Hopkins suggests that the rate of HIV-associated dementia is so high in sub-Saharan Africa that HIV dementia along with Alzheimer's disease and dementia from strokes may be among the most common forms of dementia in the world.

30 Jan 2007

HIV/AIDS advocates call on Zimbabwe to address broad health care issues

Although some HIV/AIDS advocates in Zimbabwe are welcoming a recent pledge from the Zimbabwean government to provide increased access to antiretroviral drugs by the end of this year, they also are stressing the need to address a broader crisis in the country's health care system, VOA News reports.

29 Jan 2007

Poverty, gender inequality contributing to spread of HIV in Caribbean

Poverty, gender inequality and discrimination are hampering efforts to curb the spread of HIV in the Caribbean, speakers at the Caribbean Summit on HIV/AIDS in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, said on Sunday, the Caribbean Net News reports.

28 Jan 2007

Guyanese Health Ministry to provide $450,000 for HIV/AIDS programs

The Guyanese Ministry of Health on Tuesday announced it will provide $450,000 to 16 nongovernmental organizations to conduct HIV/AIDS programs nationwide, the Stabroek News reports.

28 Jan 2007

Advocates should focus on long-term strategy to fight HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS advocates should focus on developing a long-term strategy for the fight against the pandemic, Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Executive Director Richard Feachem said on Wednesday during a satellite meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Reuters Health reports.

28 Jan 2007

Thailand plans to break antiretroviral patents

Thai Public Health Minister Mongkol Songkhla plans to break patents on an antiretroviral drug and a drug for heart disease by issuing compulsory licenses to produce lower-cost versions, Ministry of Public Health spokesperson Suphan Srithamma announced on Thursday, AFP/Yahoo! News reports.

28 Jan 2007

Antiretroviral resistance testing in HIV infected patients improves health and saves costs

In a newly published study Swiss researchers document that antiretroviral resistance testing in HIV infected patients with treatment failure not only leads to better health but also saves costs to society.

25 Jan 2007

India's decision to abide to pharma patents could limit access to medicines

India has become the "premier drug provider for the developing world" by producing generic versions of some of the world's most effective medicines, including antiretroviral drugs, but the country's decision to adhere to international patent regulations could limit access to generic drugs in the developing world, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

9 Jan 2007

Kenya's progress at reducing HIV/AIDS prevalence could be undermined by funding delays

Although Kenya has recorded a decrease in HIV/AIDS prevalence from 6.1% to 5.9% during the past year, the country's HIV/AIDS control efforts could be undermined by delays in funding disbursement and other challenges, the Lancet reports.

9 Jan 2007

Test to detect drug-resistant HIV strains could help provide earlier treatment

A test to detect drug-resistant HIV strains in people with low levels of drug-resistant viral loads could help physicians provide more effective treatment earlier to HIV-positive people, according to a study published on Sunday in the online edition of the journal Nature Methods, BBC News reports.

9 Jan 2007