New meds in development - TheBody.com's Bulletin Boards

I wanted to share this news release and backgrounder from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America regarding the 83 new medicines in development to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is good news.
Here's the release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

83 NEW MEDICINES IN DEVELOPMENT FOR HIV/AIDS

Washington, D.C., – The pharmaceutical industry is continuing its effort to develop more effective ways to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, with 83 new medicines in development, a new survey by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) shows.

"In addition to the 74 medicines already approved, these new medicines in the pipeline demonstrate our industry’s total commitment to combat this terrible scourge that is afflicting patients all over the world," said PhRMA President Alan F. Holmer. "We’ll continue full speed ahead until we’ve conquered the disease."

The medicines in development, all of which are either in human clinical trials or are awaiting approval by the FDA, include 14 vaccines and 33 antivirals, many of which attack HIV in new ways. For example, while currently approved medicines stop the virus from replicating after it has entered a patient’s cell, a promising medicine under review by the FDA blocks the virus from entering the cell. Other antiviral medicines in development block the entry of the virus at other points in the process. Another medicine in the pipeline – the first in a new class called integrase inhibitors – is designed to block an enzyme that the virus needs to make copies of itself.

The first AIDS medicine was developed in 1987, four years after the HIV virus was identified. Since the early 1990s, medicines have helped to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV by two-thirds. And since the mid-1990s, when the first protease inhibitors were launched and combination drug therapy was introduced, the U.S. death rate from AIDS has dropped about 70 percent. New treatments have also reduced hospitalization and the total cost of care.

Despite the progress, AIDS remains a devastating and growing worldwide health problem, generally in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and in China, Russia, and India. An estimated five million new HIV infections occurred worldwide during 2001 – about 14,000 each day.

In 2001 alone, pharmaceutical companies contributed $564 million to improve health care in the developing world. Projects include building HIV/AIDS clinics, AIDS education and prevention programs, and programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV as well as donations of medicines for AIDS and related diseases. Companies are also selling AIDS drugs at significantly reduced prices in 18 countries. In addition to pharmaceutical company contributions, a massive international effort is needed to cope with the pandemic.

PhRMA represents the country’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that enable patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. The industry invested more than $30 billion in 2001 in discovering and developing new medicines. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures.

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PhRMA Internet Address: http://www.phrma.org

Here's the backgrounder:

SELECTED MEDICINES IN DEVELOPMENT FOR HIV/AIDS

SHUTTING THE DOOR ON HIV: Existing antiviral drugs stop the AIDS virus from replicating after it has entered the cell. Now, pharmaceutical scientists are working on even more effective ways to stop the virus. One medicine in development is the first in a new class of drugs known as fusion inhibitors. By binding to a part of a specific HIV protein, the medicine blocks the morphing process the virus has to undergo to fuse with the cell. As a result, the virus can’t get into the cell to release its genetic material.

ENGINEERING RESISTANT CELLS: An antisense gene therapy medicine in development uses two novel technologies to boost immune responsiveness against HIV. One involves the insertion of a new type of genetic material into blood cells to inhibit the growth of the virus. The second involves inserting new genes into target cells and integrating the gene into the chromosome of the cell. The cells containing the new genes are then transferred to the patient.

BLOCKING A KEY RECEPTOR: Studies show that some people aren’t infected with HIV despite repeated exposure to the virus. Some of these people have a variant of the protein known as CCR5, which sits on the surface of their cells. To infect a cell, HIV must first bind to the CCR5 receptor. Since it can’t bind to the variant protein, HIV can’t enter the target cells. A medicine in development uses this knowledge to block HIV. It binds to the CCR5 receptor so the virus can’t enter the cell.

TARGETING AN ESSENTIAL ENZYME: Existing drugs block one of two enzymes the virus needs to reproduce, reverse transcriptase and protease. But HIV also needs an enzyme known as integrase in order to make more copies of itself. A new medicine in development is the first to try to block the integrase enzyme.

INNOCULATING AGAINST HIV: One preventive vaccine in development is designed to induce different types of immune responses, enhancing the overall immune response. The first dose primes the body to induce cellular immunity. The booster dose, consisting of genetically engineered HIV subunits, induces neutralizing antibodies.

FIGHTING FUNGAL INFECTIONS: Deadly fungal infections often attack the weakening immune systems of AIDS patients. A medicine in the pipeline is the first in a new class of antifungal medicines known as an echinocandin. The medicine targets the wall of invasive fungal cells.

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