As a service to its readers, The AIDS Beacon has compiled a list of the news articles and topics that AIDS Beacon readers found most interesting during 2011.

#1: New Drugs For Hepatitis C – Two new drugs for the treatment of hepatitis C, Incivek (telaprevir) and Victrelis (boceprevir), were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May. The drugs, which mark a shift in the treatment paradigm for hepatitis C, sparked a flurry of interest from Beacon readers. Articles on the drugs’ efficacy and side effects and the drugs’ potential for people who are co-infected with hepatitis C and HIV were top articles on The AIDS Beacon this year.

#2: Progress Toward A Cure For HIV – For the first time in years, researchers began to seriously discuss the possibility of a cure for HIV. The shift came about as a result of the first known person cured of HIV, Timothy Brown, also know as “The Berlin Patient.” Brown served as a proof of concept that a cure is possible; now researchers are trying to figure out how to apply the lessons learned about HIV over the past 30 years to finding a cure for the general population. Beacon readers were particularly interested in a series on the research scientists are pursuing toward a cure and what the future of HIV treatment might look like.

#3: FDA Approves New Anti-HIV Drug Edurant For Treatment-Naïve People With HIV – The FDA announced in May that it had approved the new antiretroviral Edurant (rilpivirine), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, for use in people with HIV who have not previously been treated.

#4: Estimated Life Expectancy For HIV-Positive Men Is Greatest When HIV Is Diagnosed Early – Results from a British study of HIV-positive men who have sex with men estimated a life expectancy of 75 years if HIV is diagnosed early, compared with 82 years for individuals without HIV. If HIV is diagnosed late, the researchers estimated life expectancy at 71.5 years.

#5: HIV Experts Recommend Shifting HIV Care To Primary Care Doctors – Dr. Mitchell Katz, a physician with extensive experience in treating patients with HIV and AIDS, argued in an editorial that HIV/AIDS care should shift from HIV specialists to primary care physicians now that, in his opinion, HIV is essentially a chronic, treatable disease. The Institute of Medicine also warned of serious and growing shortages in the HIV healthcare system and recommended shifting more HIV care to primary care doctors.

#6: 30 Years Of HIV: A Lot Of Progress, But Still A Long Way To Go – June 5, 2011, marked the 30th anniversary of the first reports of AIDS in the U.S. Physicians, policy makers, and the HIV-positive community paused to reflect on the progress that has been made in combating the disease, as well as the long road still ahead toward eradicating the virus. The anniversary also provided a time to remember the lives that have been lost to AIDS, both in the U.S. and around the world.

#7: FDA Approves Gilead’s Complera, AKA Btripla, For Use In Previously Untreated People With HIV – In August,the FDA approved Complera (rilpivirine/emtricitabine/tenofovir), informally known as “Btripla,” for use in people with HIV who have not previously been treated with antiretrovirals.

#8: Edurant And Complera Are Classified As Alternative, Not Preferred, HIV Regimens – The Department of Health and Human Services updated antiretroviral treatment guidelines to state that Edurant, which is also a component of Complera, is considered an alternative, but not preferred, antiretroviral for people starting HIV treatment for the first time. Sustiva (efavirenz), which is in the same antiretroviral class as Edurant, is still considered the preferred treatment.

#9: HAART May Affect Chemotherapy Treatment In HIV-Positive Cancer Patients – A review of studies on chemotherapy treatment for HIV-positive cancer patients found that antiretrovirals can exacerbate side effects from chemotherapy drugs and may cause drug-drug interactions that can affect dosages and efficacies.

#10: HIV And Antiretroviral Therapy May Affect Fertility – Results of a review indicated that people with HIV may be at an increased risk for infertility, due to both the virus itself and the use of antiretrovirals. The authors of the review also found that assisted reproduction options can help people with fertility problems and can be a safe choice for couples in which one partner is HIV positive and the other is HIV negative, although the risk of HIV transmission cannot be eliminated completely.

New HIV Vaccine Approach Shows Promise – Researchers from several U.S. medical centers have collaborated to create an HIV vaccine that strongly binds to and activates immune cells to destroy HIV. The vaccine was tested in monkeys and better stimulated their immune systems to create antibodies against HIV as compared to previous vaccine methods. Antibodies recognize bacteria and viruses and signal for the immune system to destroy the infectious agents. For more information, see the study in PLoS Pathogens or the Duke University Medical Center press release.

Texas HIV/AIDS Programs Face Significant Cuts In Federal Funding – As in many other states, federal funds for HIV care through the Ryan White Care Act have been cut and delayed in Texas. As a result, AIDS Resources of Rural Texas has closed, sending its clients to other North Texas HIV/AIDS organizations, which are also facing the same funding issues. Also due to funding problems, the AIDS Outreach Center in Fort Worth has had to reduce its number of case workers and scale back its food pantry. So far, there is no indication that the U.S. government will increase funding for agencies that help clients displaced by the closure. For more information, please see the related article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Theratechnologies Applies For Approval Of Egrifta In Argentina And Brazil – Theratechnologies, via an affiliate of its partner Sanofi, has applied for marketing approval of Egrifta (tesamorelin) in Argentina and Brazil. If approved, Egrifta will be the first drug in these countries to treat lipodystrophy, a condition of abnormal fat distribution that is a side effect of certain anti-HIV medications. Based on average approval times, a decision would be expected in early 2012 in Argentina and late 2012 in Brazil. Egrifta was approved in the U.S. in November of last year, and Theratechnologies’ partners have since applied for approval in Europe, Israel, and Canada. For more information, please see the Theratechnologies press releases for Argentina and Brazil.

Federal Funds For HIV Care Are Delayed In Maryland – Federal funds for HIV care have been delayed in Maryland, forcing many local organizations to cut services for people with HIV/AIDS. Maryland is scheduled to receive $61 million from the Ryan White Care Act in the 2011 fiscal year.  However, the majority of that money has not been sent by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration due to delays in passing the federal budget. For more information, please see the related article in the Baltimore Sun.

SAMHSA Launches New Web Page On HIV/AIDS And Behavioral Health – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently announced the launch of a new webpage that focuses on HIV/AIDS and behavioral health. On that page, SAMHSA provides information about the work it is doing to ensure access to appropriate behavioral health services and HIV/AIDS medical care for people who are at high risk of or already have a mental and/or substance use disorder as well as HIV/AIDS. For more information, please see the SAMHSA website.

Canadian Supreme Court Reviewing HIV Disclosure Law – The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear an appeal by an HIV-positive woman accused of violating Canada’s HIV disclosure laws by not telling her former spouse that she was HIV positive before having unprotected sex. The woman claims that since she was an antiretroviral therapy at the time and had an undetectable viral load (amount of HIV in the blood), she does not meet the law’s definition of posing a significant risk of HIV transmission. Studies have shown that antiretroviral therapy significantly reduces the risk of transmission in heterosexual couples (see related AIDS Beacon news). As part of its review, the Court will examine the issue of what constitutes significant risk given current medical advances in treating HIV. For more information, please see the article in The Vancouver Sun.

New York Landlord, Realties Sued For Discrimination Against People With HIV – Housing Works and the Fair Housing Justice Center, two New York-based non-profit organizations, are suing four real estate companies and one landlord for discriminating against people with HIV, which is illegal according to the federal Fair Housing Act and local laws. The suit alleges that the companies discriminated against a disabled HIV-positive man after discovering that he received a monthly housing subsidy from New York City’s HIV/AIDS Services Administration. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages and orders for the firms to comply with anti-discrimination laws. For more information, please see the Housing Works press release.

ViiV Healthcare Sues Teva Pharmaceuticals Over Generic Epzicom – ViiV Healthcare is suing generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals for infringing on a patent for Epzicom (abacavir/lamivudine). Teva has applied for permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to produce generic Epzicom tablets; however, ViiV Healthcare states that this violates a 2002 patent on Epzicom that does not expire until 2016. ViiV Healthcare is seeking to block Teva from producing generic Epzicom and has also requested damages if the company sells a generic version of the drug. ViiV Healthcare is a joint venture by U.S. pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline. For more information, please see the article in Bloomberg.

AmfAR Launches “Making AIDS History” Campaign – The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) has launched a new campaign called “Making AIDS History” to document the progress that has been made in the fight against HIV and AIDS in the past 30 years. The campaign’s website features short video profiles of men, women, and children who have been affected by HIV, as well as longer interviews with some of the individuals in the video profiles. The campaign is part of a fundraising effort to raise money for amfAR, which focuses on research to help cure HIV. For more information, please see the Making AIDS History website.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Winners Of “Fight HIV Your Way” Contest – Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced the winners of the 2011 “Fight HIV Your Way” contest, in which people who have HIV or have been affected by HIV submitted photos and essays to show how they are fighting the virus. The ten winners will have their works incorporated into an American Dance Theatre work by Alvin Ailey, which will debut on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2011. For more information or to see the winning entries, please see the Fight HIV Your Way website or the Bristol-Myers Squibb press release.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation Targets Merck, Johnson & Johnson In Drug Price Campaign – Activists at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), a California-based treatment and advocacy group, conducted protests last week against U.S. pharmaceutical companies Merck and Johnson & Johnson over the companies’ HIV drug prices. AHF is pressuring both companies to cut the prices they charge state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, which provide antiretrovirals free to low-income people with HIV. AHF’s protests focused on Isentress (raltegravir), marketed by Merck, and Prezista (darunavir), marketed by Johnson & Johnson. For more information, please see the AHF press releases for the Merck and Johnson & Johnson protests.

Johns Hopkins Recruits Participants For Phase 1/2 Trial To Treat HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders – Researchers at Johns Hopkins University are currently recruiting approximately 60 HIV-positive adults for a Phase 1/2 clinical trial to treat HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. The researchers will test the safety and efficacy of two approved drugs, the antidepressant paroxetine (Paxil) and the anti-fungal medication fluconazole (Diflucan), in treating problems related to memory, concentration, thinking, and judgment. The drugs will be tested both separately and in combination. Participants must be 18 to 65 years old and on antiretroviral therapy. The trial is expected to last 24 weeks. For more information, please see the U.S. Clinical Trials Registry.

Government Creates New Website To Fight Discrimination Against People With HIV – The Department of Justice has created a new website to help fight discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS, which is illegal under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The website provides information about HIV’s coverage under the ADA and instructions on how to file a complaint, as well as information on past legal settlements against companies found guilty of discrimination. The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, education, healthcare, and housing, among others. For more information, please see the Department of Justice’s ADA AIDS website.

New Jersey Will Implement Medical Marijuana Program – New Jersey governor Chris Christie announced yesterday that he will lift the suspension on the state’s plans to dispense medical marijuana. The governor last month delayed implementing the law to request assurance from the federal government that it would not prosecute state officials for dispensing the drug. However, despite not receiving such assurances, Governor Christie said yesterday that the state can move forward with its plans. Governors of several states have reassessed medical marijuana laws in light of recent letters from the U.S. government threatening to prosecute state employees under federal drug laws (see related AIDS Beacon news). Marijuana is not legal under federal laws, although several states have legalized it for medicinal use. For more information, please see the article in Bloomberg.

Armenia Lifts HIV Travel Ban – Armenia last week became the latest country to lift its ban restricting people with HIV from entering the country. Namibia, China, South Korea, and the U.S. have all lifted travel bans since 2010, although restrictions remain in 48 countries, territories, or areas worldwide. The United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) praised the move, stating that travel bans are discriminatory and have no health or economic justifications. For more information, please see the UNAIDS press release.

The generic drug will be made by Teva Pharmaceuticals.  According to the company, the generic version will be available as of the fourth quarter of this year.  Since Teva is the first company to apply for FDA approval of the generic form of Combivir, Teva will be given 180 days to exclusively market the generic drug,  after which other generic versions can be marketed.

The branded drug Combivir is marketed by ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture of GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.

For a list of other approved generic anti-HIV medications, please see the FDA website.

Incivek (telaprevir) is approved for use with peginterferon alfa (PegIntron or Pegasys) and ribavirin (Copegus, Rebetol). It is approved both for people who have not been previously treated with interferon-based therapy and people who have previously been treated but did not adequately respond.

It is the second new hepatitis C treatment approved by the FDA this month; Victrelis (boceprevir), marketed by U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck, was the first (see related AIDS Beacon news).

The most commonly reported side effects of Incivek are rash, low red blood cell count (anemia), nausea, fatigue, headache, diarrhea, itching, and anal or rectal irritation and pain.

The AIDS Beacon will publish a full article on the approval later today.

Update: Please see the AIDS Beacon’s full coverage of the Incivek approval.

Edurant (rilpivirine) is taken once-daily as a 25 mg pill. The approval is based on clinical trial results showing that Edurant is as effective as Sustiva (efavirenz), which is also an NNRTI. The most commonly reported side effects of Edurant are depression, difficulty sleeping (insomnia), headache, and rash.

The AIDS Beacon will publish a full article on the approval later today.

Update: Please see the AIDS Beacon’s full coverage of the Edurant approval.

GlaxoSmithKline Sues Abbott Laboratories Over Price Of Norvir – Arguments began last week in a lawsuit between pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Abbott Laboratories over the price of Abbott’s HIV drug Norvir (ritonavir). Norvir is often prescribed in combination with protease inhibitors to increase the effectiveness of a protease inhibitor-based antiretroviral regimen. GSK claims that Abbott’s 2003 price increase for Norvir, from $1.71 to $8.57 per 100 mg tablet, prevented GSK and other protease inhibitor manufacturers from competing effectively with Abbott’s protease inhibitor Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir), which already includes Norvir. Abbott argues that the price increase was reasonable and that Kaletra makes up less of the protease inhibitor market today than it did in 2003. GSK, Rite Aid, and other drug retailers and distributors are seeking damages of up to $4.5 billion. A decision on the case is expected within a few weeks. For more information, please see the Bloomberg news article.

National Women And Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – Thursday, March 10 will mark the annual National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Coordinated by the Office on Women’s Health, the day is meant to encourage nationwide discussion about HIV and AIDS among women and girls, including educating women and girls about prevention, testing, and how to live a healthy life after becoming infected with HIV. For more information or to find local events, please see the National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day website.

Clinical Trial On Depleting HIV Reservoirs Is Currently Recruiting Participants – A new clinical trial is recruiting patients to test the drug disulfiram (Antabuse) for efficacy in accelerating the decay of the latent HIV reservoir in patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Latent HIV is HIV that is not affected by antiretrovirals, preventing the virus from being eliminated even after years of treatment. Disulfiram is a drug used to treat alcoholism that has recently been investigated for possible anti-cancer properties. In this study, disulfiram will be tested for its ability to cause latent HIV to reactivate, making it susceptible to HAART. Study participants must be HIV-positive adults on a stable HAART regimen. Participants will be given disulfiram once a day for two weeks. This study is being conducted by the University of California, San Francisco and Johns Hopkins University. For more information, please see the U.S. Clinical Trials Registry.

Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial Will Test The Efficacy Of Hepatitis C Drug Pegintron Against Residual HIV – A second clinical trial involving latent HIV will test the efficacy of the hepatitis C treatment Pegintron (interferon alpha 2b) at reducing residual virus. Participants must be HIV-positive, hepatitis C-negative adults on antiretroviral therapy with undetectable viral loads (amount of HIV in the blood) for at least the previous 12 months. Participants will be given weekly Pegintron injections for four weeks, then receive sensitive blood tests to monitor latent HIV levels for up to 48 weeks. The trial will be conducted at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD and the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. For more information, please see the U.S. Clinical Trials Registry.

The study results support the findings from previous shorter-term studies showing that treatment interruptions are highly detrimental to people with HIV.

Based on these findings, the researchers suggested that doctors initiate antiretroviral therapy early in HIV patients, avoid treatment interruptions or keep them as short as possible, and decrease viral loads as much as possible.

Antiretroviral therapy consists of at least three antiretroviral drugs to stop the progression of HIV infection. Antiretroviral regimens promote recovery of CD4 (white blood) cells, decrease viral load (amount of virus in the blood), and increase life expectancy.

However, antiretroviral therapy is frequently interrupted or discontinued by HIV patients because of side effects, inconvenience, or psychological factors such as depression.

Previous studies have indicated that treatment interruptions are more likely to lead to HIV-associated illnesses and death. However, these studies did not evaluate longer-term consequences of treatment interruption.

In this study, researchers evaluated CD4 cell recovery, number of opportunistic infections, and mortality in 2,491 HIV patients for an average of seven years to evaluate longer-term consequences of treatment interruption.

All study participants started a treatment regimen of at least three antiretroviral drugs. Based on participants’ response to treatment and whether or not they ever discontinued therapy, researchers categorized them into three groups.

The first group consisted of participants who had discontinued treatment for at least one month during the study period. The second group included participants who had no treatment interruptions but were unable to achieve a consistent viral load below 1,000 copies per milliliter. The third group consisted of patients who had no treatment interruptions and consistently had viral loads under 1,000 copies per milliliter starting six months after beginning treatment.

Results showed that patients with interruptions in treatment had poorer CD4 cell recovery, more opportunistic infections and HIV-related illnesses, and a slightly higher mortality rate.

After eight years of treatment, 63 percent of patients with interruptions in therapy achieved a CD4 count threshold of more than 350 cells per microliter of blood, compared to 76 percent and 87 percent of participants in the two groups with no treatment interruptions.

In addition, only 37 percent of patients with treatment interruptions reached a CD4 count of more than 500 cells per microliter of blood, compared to 56 percent and 68 percent of patients undergoing continuous treatment.

Poorer CD4 cell recovery was also associated with older age and hepatitis C co-infection.

The researchers also observed that the duration of treatment interruptions had an effect on CD4 recovery. Discontinuing antiretroviral therapy for three months or more resulted in smaller increases in CD4 counts after eight years of treatment compared to continuous therapy. Interruptions lasting for more than 31 months resulted in CD4 decline.

More participants with treatment interruptions (10.5 percent) experienced opportunistic infections and HIV-related illnesses such as shingles, Candida (fungal) infections, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma than participants in the two groups with no treatment interruptions (6.1 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively).

Longer durations of treatment discontinuation resulted in higher rates of new opportunistic infections. Fourteen percent of participants who discontinued treatment for 15 months or more had a serious HIV-related illness, compared to 6 percent of participants with treatment discontinuations of a month or less.

The researchers observed a slightly higher HIV-related death rate in patients with treatment interruptions compared to people with no interruptions and successful viral control. Participants with no interruptions but inconsistent viral control had a similar HIV-related death rate as people with treatment interruptions.

For more information, please see the study in AIDS (abstract).

Shionogi-ViiV Healthcare Starts Phase 3 Trial for ’572-Trii Fixed-Dose Combination HIV Therapy – Shionogi-ViiV Healthcare has announced the start of a Phase 3 clinical study to test the efficacy and safety of ’572-Trii, a new fixed-dose combination therapy for the treatment of HIV. The proposed treatment combines the investigational integrase inhibitor S/GSK1349572 and ViiV Healthcare’s combination nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor Epzicom (abacavir/lamivudine). The trial will compare ’572-Trii to Atripla (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir) in treatment-naïve adults over a 48 week period. For more information, please see the ViiV Healthcare press release. For information on the clinical trial, please see the U.S. Clinical Trials Registry.

FDA Suspends Phase 2 Clinical Trial For Investigational Anti-HIV Drug GSK2248761 – The FDA has suspended a Phase 2 clinical trial for the investigational non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor GSK2248761. No reason for the suspension has been given, but Aidsmeds.com has reported that the suspension was due to four reports of seizures. The purpose of the trial was to find the optimal dose of GSK2248761 in treatment-experienced patients. GSK2248761 was developed by Idenix Pharmaceuticals and is currently licensed by ViiV Healthcare. For more information, please see the Idenix press release. For more information on the clinical trial, please see the U.S. Clinical Trials Registry.

Adoption Agency Develops HIV/AIDS Toolkit to Educate Prospective Parents – Bethany Christian Services, a Michigan-based adoption agency, has announced the creation of an HIV Adoption Toolkit for couples considering adopting children living with HIV/AIDS. The toolkit is designed to educate prospective adoptive parents on the medical, social, and psychological aspects of adopting a child with HIV. The toolkit is free to prospective parents looking to adopt with Bethany Christian Services and available online to anyone for a fee. For more information, please see the press release or the toolkit at Bethany Christian Services.

“I am extremely pleased that we will be able to offer these translations to our Spanish-speaking readers,” said Courtney McQueen, an associate publisher of The AIDS Beacon.

“HIV is an important issue in Hispanic and Latino communities, as Hispanics and Latinos make up 18 percent of new HIV infections and 17 percent of people living with HIV in the United States,” she added.

Articles available in Spanish will be marked with a small half-Mexican, half-Spanish flag. A flag at the upper right of all AIDS Beacon pages will give readers quick access to all Spanish-language news articles, and Spanish translations of resource articles can be found in the resources section of the website.

The translations will be provided by Beacon writers Mariana Plazas-Mayorca, born in Venezuela, and Cristina Balbás-Martínez, a native of Spain.

The Beacon’s publication of Spanish-language content will begin with several news and resource articles. Additional news articles will be translated on a regular basis.

Eventually, The AIDS Beacon plans to offer content in several languages, enabling it to accommodate an even broader international readership.

“We are constantly looking for new opportunities to improve the Beacon,” said Boris Simkovich, publisher of The AIDS Beacon. “Spanish translations will allow us to serve a larger population of the HIV/AIDS community.”

If you are interested in assisting The AIDS Beacon in translating articles into your native language, please contact the Beacon at info@aidsbeacon.com.

University Of Liverpool Offers Free iPhone Application To Monitor HIV Drug Interactions – The University of Liverpool announced that it is offering a free iPhone or iPod Touch application, called HIV iChart, that helps people search for HIV drug interactions. The application is available for download from Apple’s online iTunes store. Once downloaded, users can provide the application with their current or proposed HIV drug regimens, as well as many other drugs prescribed to treat HIV-related conditions. The application will then provide the user with information on any potentially harmful drug interactions. Users do not need to be connected to the Internet to use the application once it is downloaded. The application is provided as part of the University’s website on drug interactions, www.hiv-druginteractions.org. For more information on HIV iChart, please see the iTunes application page.

AIDS Documentary To Be Shown Internationally On World AIDS Day – On December 1, a new documentary discussing the evolution of antiretroviral drugs in the treatment of AIDS will be shown around the world to mark World AIDS Day. Entitled “The Lazarus Effect,” this 30-minute documentary captures the effects of antiretroviral drugs on four HIV-positive patients in Africa. The documentary will be shown in the U.S. on HBO and in Britain on Channel 4. Efforts to show the documentary in other countries are underway. For more information, please visit The Lazarus Effect website.

Philadelphia Faith Leaders To Campaign For HIV/AIDS Education – Over 100 religious leaders will campaign for AIDS education and testing in Philadelphia from November 8 to 14. Churches and mosques will preach about HIV and AIDS, and leaders will encourage their congregations to be tested for HIV. The collaboration, organized by a Brown University researcher and the Philadelphia mayor’s office, aims to combat the stigma associated with AIDS and to address the issue in a faith-based manner. For more information, please see the press release on the Brown University website.

National Summit On HIV/AIDS Convenes This Month – The National Summit on HIV Diagnosis, Prevention and Access to Care will be held in Maryland on November 17 to 19. Topics include routine HIV testing for all Americans ages 13 to 64 and accessible care for patients. The implications of the Obama administration’s health care reform for HIV/AIDS will also be a topic of discussion. The summit will feature several influential speakers in science, policy, and government. Over 300 scientists, public health experts, and advocates will be attending the event. For more information, please see the press release on PR Newswire. To register, please see the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research website.

For a more detailed listing of HIV/AIDS-related events, please check the AIDS Beacon Events Calendar.

CDC Announces Nearly One Fifth Of Gay Men Are HIV-Positive – A new study released by the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has found that 19 percent of gay men in the U.S. are HIV positive. The study also reported that 57 percent of all new HIV infections occur in men who have sex with men. The group hardest hit is African-American homosexual men, at 28 percent HIV-positive; non-Hispanic Caucasian gay men and interracial men were least affected, at 16 percent and 17 percent, respectively. The CDC found that nearly half (44 percent) of the HIV-positive men did not know they were infected. For more information, please see the report on the CDC website or the news article in The Washington Post.

HHS Allocates $30 Million Toward Implementing The National HIV/AIDS Strategy – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last week that it has allocated $30 million from the recently passed Affordable Care Act toward implementing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which was introduced by President Obama on July 13. The funds will largely go toward HIV prevention and testing efforts. A portion of the funds will also go toward improved monitoring of HIV-positive communities by local health care providers, to improve access to care and treatment for people with HIV. For more information, please see the HHS website.

The strategy was formed with input from the HIV-positive community, which provided ideas and recommendations by email and at public discussion forums throughout the country late last year.

According to a government press release, the plan will provide “a roadmap for policymakers, partners in prevention, and the public on steps the United States must take to [prevent the spread of HIV], get people living with HIV into care, and reduce HIV-related health disparities.”

The AIDS Beacon will be covering this event and will provide in-depth information on the new strategy once it is released.

Tesamorelin, also known by its proposed brand name Egrifta, is being reviewed by the FDA as a potential treatement for HIV-associated lipodystrophy, an excess accumulation of abdominal fat that is a frequent side effect of antiretroviral therapy. 

Tesamorelin has been developed by the Montreal-based biopharmaceutical company Theratechnologies.  If approved by the FDA as a treatment for lipodystrophy, the drug would be marketed in the U.S. by EMD Serono, a unit of the German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA.

The 16-0 vote in favor of approval by the FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee does not guarantee that the FDA will eventually approve tesamorelin.  The FDA is not legally obligated to follow the recommendations of its advisory committees.  However, it generally does.

The Beacon will be publishing a more complete report on the FDA committee’s deliberations and recommendation later today.  Until then, readers interested in the full details of today’s advisory committee meeting should consult the Beacon’s comprehensive liveblog of the event.

The Montreal-based biopharmaceutical company Theratechnologies is seeking FDA approval to market tesamorelin as a treatment for HIV-associated lipodystrophy, an excess accumulation of abdominal fat that is a frequent side effect of antiretroviral therapy.

During its meeting today, the FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee will review data related to the efficacy and safety of tesamorelin.  The Committee, which consists of non-FDA medical experts, also will vote on whether it believes tesamorelin should be approved by the FDA.  The FDA is under no obligation to follow recommendations made by its advisory committees, but it generally does.

AIDS Beacon associate publisher Courtney McQueen will be attending and reporting on today’s meeting.  Her liveblog of the tesamorelin advisory committee meeting is available here.

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