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Gilead Sciences Refiles New Drug Application For Truvada Plus Rilpivirine Combination Pill – Gilead Sciences announced late last week that it has refiled its New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the single-tablet regimen of Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir) plus rilpivirine (TMC278). Rilpivirine is Tibotec Pharmaceuticals’ investigational non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. The FDA refused to file Gilead’s previous New Drug Application, citing the need for additional information on Gilead’s methods for measuring certain impurities. To learn more, please visit the Gilead website.

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.

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Although few prospective parents consider adopting a child with HIV, there are many such children in need, and the experience of adopting HIV-positive children can change the lives of all of those involved. With the lifting of the HIV travel ban, bringing HIV-positive children to the United States from other countries has become easier, and there are also HIV-positive children in the U.S. waiting to be adopted.

By the end of this year, an estimated 25 million children around the world will have lost one or both parents to AIDS,…

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When Margaret Fleming, founder and executive director of Adoption-Link, an organization specializing in domestic and international adoption, discussed her plans several years ago to open an adoption agency for families in the United States looking to adopt HIV-positive children, people thought she was crazy.

At the time,“No one else was doing this and people didn’t think it was possible with insurance, immigration and other factors,” Fleming said.

However, in 2003 Chances by Choice was formed and has since placed about 60 HIV-positive children with families. The ages of these children…

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For many HIV positive couples who are considering parenthood, it may be a challenging and unpredictable process. Conceiving a child can lead to the possibility of transmitting the virus to the fetus. The virus also can be transmitted to the other partner if only one is HIV-positive.

An alternative solution for many facing this dilemma is adoption. However, even if couples are certain this is the right choice for them, some adoption agencies see HIV as a red flag to disqualify prospective couples from adopting.

In 1990 the Americans with…