Scientists 'tinker' with HIV drug chemistry hoping to reduce costs

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, founded by former President Bill Clinton, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.K. government, has hired former pharmaceutical company scientists "to tinker with the chemistry used to synthesize a key [HIV] drug, tenofovir" in an effort to reduce "the cost of manufacturing," the Wall Street Journal reports.

"The chemistry effort represents a new sophistication among AIDS advocates, who fear a wave of HIV deaths in developing countries due to flat funding for international treatment programs," the newspaper writes. The Clinton team is also looking at how to make antiretroviral drugs that are more easily absorbed by the body, which "would allow each pill to contain less antiretroviral medication while achieving the same effects," according to the Wall Street Journal (Schoofs, 5/13).


    http://www.kaiserhealthnews.orgThis article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

    Comments

    1. HLovingCom HLovingCom United States says:

      It would be good if the antiretroviral drugs could make a difference.

    The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
    Post a new comment
    Post
    You might also like...
    Possible risk factors for brain aneurysm development in adults living with HIV