Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, September 12, 2003 Page: 29 of 68
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organizations.
The chief of the state Department of Health
Services called on the FDA in a separate letter
to require condom manufacturers to stop
using nonoxynol-9.
The World Health Organization last year
urged researchers to develop a microbe-killing
chemical that could help women protect them-
selves from AIDS.
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Scientists at Merck &
Co.'s vaccine research headquarters in subur-
ban Philadelphia are testing two experimental
AIDS vaccines in early human trials.
In previous tests, the vaccines prevented
laboratory monkeys from acquiring full-blown
AIDS, although they contracted a version of
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Experts believe vaccines are the only way
to stop the global AIDS epidemic, which has
claimed about 20 million lives and infected
another 42 million people so far.
"Merck is seen as having one of the broad-
est programs out there, and is developing a
candidate that people look at as one of the lead
products," said Chris Collins, executive direc-
tor of the New York-based AIDS Vaccine
Advocacy Coalition.
Government, academic and industry
researchers trying to develop a vaccine over
the past two decades have found the goal elu-
The group said a thorough review of stud-
ies of nonoxynol-9 found the widely used
spermicide does not prevent HIV infection and
may increase infection if used frequently.
Church & Dwight, makers of Trojans, said
in a statement that the effort to remove spermi-
cide condoms from stores "could confuse con-
sumers about the benefits of using condoms to
reduce the risk of disease transmission and
sive.
More than a dozen companies are in the
hunt with Merck, including Aventis Pasteur,
Wyeth, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Chiron Corp.,
VaxGen Inc., AlphaVax Inc. and Epimmune
Inc.
Merck, which has a 415-acre vaccine
research campus near Lansdale, is conducting
10 Phase 1 studies involving 1,300 volunteers
around the country.
The company, based in Whitehouse Station,
N.J., won't disclose how much it's spent trying
to develop an AIDS vaccine or how many peo-
ple are working on the project.
Its studies, begun in late 1999, are exploring
safety and immune response — and not
whether the vaccine prevents people from get-
ting the disease. Results are expected next
year.
If the research is promising, studies on the
vaccine's effectiveness in humans could take
another three or four years, stretching to 2008
potentially reduce condom use" causing "sig-
nificant public health consequences."
The company said condom makers are
working with the government to revise labels
of nonoxynol-9 condoms.
Some condom manufacturers have stopped
using nonoxynol-9, the only spermicide used
in U.S. condoms. About a third of all condoms
sold nationwide contain the spermicide. ▼
or 2009.
"When could there be an AIDS vaccine? I
never answer that question," said Emilio A.
Emini, Merck's senior vice president of vaccine
and biologicals research. "We'll have to see
what the next 10 years bring."
Merck's lead vaccine uses a weakened com-
mon-cold virus, known as adenovirus, to carry
genetic material from the AIDS virus into the
body, in the hopes of producing an immune
response to the virus.
In studies on monkeys, Merck produced
the best immune response when first injecting
them with a "naked DNA" inoculation, then
boosting it with the adenovirus.
Those monkeys were not free of infection,
but the virus remained at low levels and the
monkeys did not get AIDS.
"The real important question is: If you can
elicit this kind of response in monkeys, will it
make any difference in humans?" Emini said.
Continued on Next Page
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DALLAS VOICE SEPTEMBER 12, 2003
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, September 12, 2003, newspaper, September 12, 2003; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616336/m1/29/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.