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Biotech / Medical : Agouron Pharmaceuticals (AGPH) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JOHN W. who wrote (3612)	1/14/1998 8:45:00 PM
From: JOHN W.	Respond to of 6136

Wednesday January 14, 5:57 pm Eastern Time U.S. government starts three new AIDS vaccine trials WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Researchers funded by the U.S. government said Wednesday they were starting trials of three new vaccines against the HIV virus that causes AIDS. The trials, being run in St. Louis, Nashville, Seattle, Birmingham, Baltimore and Rochester, are funded by the National Institute of Allergy and infectious Diseases (NIAID) and will involve 167 human volunteers. There are now 45 different vaccine trials going on in the United States, using 24 different approaches. In one trial, a vaccine already being tested as an injection, will be applied to the genital and urinary tracts and the nose and throat. Most HIV infections are transmitted in such places, which are lined with mucous membranes. The vaccine, known as ALVAC-HIV vCP205, is made from a weakened canarypox virus that has been genetically engineered to carry three HIV proteins. The idea is to prime the immune system to recognize and attack anything carrying those proteins. The vaccine, made by Pasteur Merieux Connaught, a subsidiary of Rhone-Poulenc(RHON.PA), will first be given as an injection. Volunteers will then have it swabbed or dripped onto the nose, rectum, or vagina. A second trial will use a new strategy based on Salmonella bacteria, known best for causing food poisoning, the NIH said. ''Because this bacteria normally reproduces only inside human cells, it can present the HIV proteins in a way that may better induce immune responses,'' the NIH said in a statement. University of Maryland scientists have engineered Salmonella to carry one HIV protein. They call the vaccine VVG203. A third trial will use a new adjuvant, or additional ingredient, known as human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) along with the ALVAC vaccine. GM-CSF is a cytokine, a kind of chemical that signals the immune system. ''GM-CSF is a drug commonly used to improve blood cell production in cancer patients,'' the NIH said. Researchers hope the chemical, made by Seattle-based Immunex(Nasdaq:IMNX - news), will boost the effects of the vaccine. No vaccine has been shown to work against HIV in people, but experts say a vaccine is the best way to fight the deadly virus.