April 2003

Contents

Editorial

• Volume 4 Number 3 April 2003

Conference reports

• 10th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), 10-14 February 2003, Boston, USA

• Pipeline compounds in Phase 2/3 Studies

• 96-week results show tenofovir-including regimen has side-effect advantages over d4T regimen in treatment naïve patients

• 2NN results – nevirapine and efavirenz in prospective randomised head-to-head study

• NIH/NIAID study of generic drugs shows results consistent with stringent manufacturing standards

• Treatment interruptions: cycles, pauses, are just plain stopping?

• Conference has strong emphasis on women

• Tenofovir and renal tubular dysfunction

• Approaches to treatment of lipodystrophy

• Surgery for buffalo hump shows variable results depending on method

• Other studies – nucleosides and switching to abacavir; importance of lipoatrophy and buffalo hump

• HAART to HEART: cardiovascular risk in HIV

• Alendronate, vitamin D and calcium are safe and effective treatment for HIV-associated bone loss

• Bone loss and fat loss are closely related in HIV patients on HAART

• Low dose 200/100 IDV/RTV managed by TDM in substudy of co-infected patients

• 12-week response predicts which HIV-HCV coinfected patients will not benefit from continued pegylated interferon plus ribavirin

• Pegylated interferon associated with eye disorders

• Nevirapine resistance – the cautionary tales continue

Antiretrovirals

• Trizivir-only arm closed in PI-sparing, naïve therapy trial

• Fosamprenavir expanded access in UK

• Roche prices enfuvirtide (T-20) at €18,980 a year – making it the most expensive HIV drug yet

• European positive opinion for tenofovir for first-line therapy

Treatment access

• Global Fund gives $210 million for treatment in Thailand

• Anti-HIV combination drug for Indonesia

• Indian generic drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories to launch own-brand abacavir

• Bush blocks deal allowing cheap drugs

• Roche to sell nelfinavir, saquinavir at cost to least-developed nations

• South Africa appoints another dissident

Women's health

• Reduced testosterone levels in HIV-positive women

• European activists highlight importance of gender based research: women experience HIV differently

Hepatitis coinfection

• European approval of adefovir for hepatitis B

Basic science and immunology

• US implementation of large-scale smallpox vaccination plan has special implications for people with HIV

Vaccines and microbicides

• Vaxgen announces disappointing results from first large international vaccine trial

• GMHC criticises Vaxgen for obfuscation of trial results of its AIDS vaccine

Other news

• UK HIV new cases at record high

• Antibiotic-resistant skin infections spreading among gay men, also in prisons

On the web

• Further Glasgow and Retrovirus reports

• Medscape: articles in full from AIDS, Journal AIDS etc

• Contents of newsletters now online: Beta, amfAR Insider, PRN Notebook, GMHC Treatment Issues

• New HIVinSite Knowledge Base chapters; new website for information on herbs and supplements

• HHS Clinical Guide on Palliative Care of HIV/AIDS Patients

PDFs

• Volume 4 Number 3 April 2003 PDF