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Study Finds Viramune Lowers Bad Cholesterol: A study funded by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. and presented July 20 at the International AIDS Society Conference in Cape Town, South Africa shows that its antiretroviral drug Viramune (nevirapine), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, lowers bad cholesterol in HIV patients. This is important in reducing stress on the cardiovascular system, which is adversely affected by HIV. The study also found that Viramune was more effective than Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir) when used in combination with other antiretrovirals. For more information, please see the Connecticut Post.

D.C. Public School System Offers STD Testing To High School Students: A report released today by the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice commended the recent D.C. school board decision to offer tests for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) to all public high school students this fall. A recent pilot program found that 11 percent of students tested positive for an STD, which increases the likelihood of HIV transmission during sexual contact. AIDS activists see the decision as an effort to arrest the city’s AIDS rate, which is the highest in the nation. For more information, please see the D.C. Appleseed report and the related Washington Post article.

Study Shows VivaGel Protects Against HIV And HSV Infection: A recent clinical study conducted in Melbourne, Australia demonstrated the anti-HIV and anti-HSV (herpes simplex virus) properties of VivaGel, a Starpharma product. VivaGel is a vaginally administered microbicide that blocks sexually transmitted diseases. It is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials in the U.S. The recent study suggests VivaGel retains its activity following vaginal administration and is active longer than expected. For more information, please see the Starpharma press release (pdf).

Study Reveals Isentress Is A More Effective Treatment Than Sustiva In Treatment-Naïve Patients: In a recent study published in The Lancet, the new antiretroviral Isentress (raltegravir) proved to be more effective in first-line therapy and faster in suppressing HIV replication than Sustiva (efavirenz), with fewer side effects. Isentress is an integrase inhibitor manufactured by Merck. For more information, please see the study in The Lancet (abstract) or read the related MedPage Today article.

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Study Reports an Increase in Hepatitis C Virus Among HIV Infected Men Who Have Sex With Men: Findings in a recent study on AIDS report a high and increasing prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in HIV infected men who have sex with men. This trend suggests the ongoing transmission of HCV in HIV-positive men who have sex with men. The researchers propose to focus on targeted prevention such as raising awareness and routine testing to combat this problem. For more information, please see the study in the journal AIDS (abstract).

Study Finds That NRTI-Free Regimens Are Correlated With Resistance: A recent study reported in the journal AIDS shows that treatment of antiretroviral-naïve patients with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI)-sparing regimens was less successful than NRTI-based regimens. The use of  nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) with protease inhibitors (PIs), without the use of NRTIs, was less successful and was also associated with more resistance to PIs and NNRTIs. The study concludes that a NNRTI and PI regimen should not be recommended as an antiretroviral first-line regimen. For more information, please see the study in AIDS (abstract).

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FDA Warns Abbot Laboratories About Misleading Information On Promotional DVD For HIV Drug: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a warning letter to Abbot Laboratories citing serious violations about a recent promotional DVD for its drug Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir). The violations include suggesting that Kaletra is safer, more effective, and can be used successfully in circumstances other than what has been studied. Abbot has accepted the consequences, stated that the particular DVD has been discontinued, and plans to comply with the requests made by the FDA. For more information, see the related Reuters article.

Dr. Joel Weisman, One Of The First Physicians To Detect AIDS, Dies At Age 66: Dr. Joel D. Weisman, one of the first physicians to detect the AIDS epidemic and who became a national advocate for AIDS research, treatment, and prevention, died on July 18th due to heart disease. In 1980, after noticing that 3 male gay patients had the same symptoms, Weisman referred them to Michael S. Gottlieb, an immunologist at UCLA, who also had a patient with similar symptoms. Together, Weisman and Gottlieb wrote a report that indicated the official start of the AIDS epidemic. For more information, please visit the LA Times.

Drug Susceptibility Testing Improves Survival Of HIV Patients: Researchers found that HIV-infected patients whose drug regimens were guided by susceptibility testing (sensitivity testing or drug resistance testing) were significantly less likely to die than patients who were not. The study was conducted in 10 U.S. HIV clinics on 2,699 patients, of which 915 patients underwent genotypic or phenotypic susceptibility testing. For more information, please see the study in the Annals of Internal Medicine (abstract) and the related MedPage Today article.