News »

Fewer People With HIV Are Dying From HIV-Related Illnesses – A new report analyzing death certificates of people with HIV from 1996 to 2006 has found that fewer people with HIV are dying from HIV- and AIDS-related causes. Deaths from non-HIV related causes, such as cancer and heart disease, however, have increased during the same period. The report found that the number of deaths in people with HIV declined from 35,340 in 1996 to 13,750 in 2006, a 61 percent decrease. The percentages of deaths from AIDS-related illnesses such as fungal or bacterial infections and Kaposi’s sarcoma declined during this period; however, deaths from cancers increased from 2.7 percent to 7.3 percent of deaths; liver disease from 5.8 percent to 13 percent; kidney disease from 7.9 percent to 12 percent; and heart disease from 4.9 to 10.2 percent of deaths in people with HIV. The researchers concluded that care of people with HIV should increasingly focus on other life-threatening conditions, such as heart disease or cancer. For more information, please see the report in the Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (pdf).

Theratechnologies And Sanofi-Aventis Partner To Market Egrifta In Latin America, Africa, And The Middle East – Theratechnologies announced today that it has reached an agreement with Sanofi-Aventis for the introduction of Egrifta (tesamorelin) in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Under the agreement, Theratechnologies will be responsible for producing Egrifta and conducting any additional clinical research, while Sanofi-Aventis will be in charge of obtaining regulatory approval and marketing the drug. Egrifta is used to reduce excess abdominal fat in people with HIV who suffer from lipodystrophy, a common side effect of antiretrovirals in which body fat is abnormally redistributed. Egrifta was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November for sale in the U.S. (see related AIDS Beacon news). For more information, please see the press release on the Theratechnologies website.

Clinical Trial On Vitamin D Supplements In People With HIV Is Now Recruiting – A new clinical trial studying the effects of vitamin D supplementation in vitamin D deficient HIV-positive adults is now recruiting participants in Los Angeles. Participants will receive 50,000 IU of vitamin D twice weekly for 5 weeks, followed by 2,000 IU daily for 7 weeks. The current vitamin D recommendation for adults is 600 IU daily. The study aims to see if high doses of vitamin D can effectively eliminate deficiencies in trial participants. Vitamin D deficiencies are thought to contribute to bone loss, which is a common problem in people with HIV (see related AIDS Beacon news). Participants must be HIV positive, 18 to 90 years old, and have viral loads (amount of virus in the blood) of 200 copies per milliliter or less. Participants also cannot be taking vitamin D supplements and must be patients at the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Clinical AIDS Research & Education. For more information, please see the United States Clinical Trials Registry.

Headline, News »

According to a recently published study in PLoS One, HIV-positive women who are receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) are twice as likely to become pregnant as those not receiving ART.

The study was conducted among Sub-Saharan African women who were enrolled in the Mother-to-Child Transmission-Plus (MTCT-Plus) Initiative, which is an HIV treatment program for women and children.

Of the 4,531 women studied, 589 pregnancies were recorded, where 244 pregnancies occurred among women not receiving ART and 345 pregnancies among women receiving ART.

The researchers of this study wanted to explore this…

Headline, News »

An article published this month in AIDS and Behavior strongly rebuts claims that HIV does not cause AIDS, and argues that the AIDS denialist movement has been “disastrous,” costing “hundreds of thousands of lives” due to its influence on public policy.

The authors state that these deaths are a “crime against humanity,” and that there is a “need for accountability” for those responsible, possibly in the International Criminal Court.

Members of the AIDS denialist movement do not believe that HIV causes AIDS, that the disease has caused widespread deaths, or…

Headline, News »

The international organization UNITAID will launch a new patent pool to lower the cost of HIV/AIDS drugs for poorer countries, the Executive Board announced Monday. The patent pool is set to open in mid-2010 and is expected to save over one billion dollars annually.

In a patent pool, companies allow their drugs to be produced generically in exchange for royalties, or a percentage of the revenue. This reduces the price of newer medications that are still under patent, making them more affordable for HIV-positive individuals in poorer nations.

The generic…

Headline, News »

Results from a large international clinical trial on an HIV preventative gel, PRO 2000, show no evidence that it decreases the risk of HIV infection in women.

This has been a disappointing finding for researchers and has likely brought an end to further research in this particular product.

PR0 2000 is a vaginal microbicide, which is a substance whose purpose is to reduce the infectivity of viruses. As of now, there are no microbicides that have been effective against HIV infection.

PRO 2000 is designed to be used by women…