Posted on 12/26/2005 6:24:40 PM PST by neverdem
Associated Press
Companies will wait for federal research, AIDS chief predicts
WASHINGTON - In an unusually candid admission, the federal chief of AIDS research says he believes drug companies don't have an incentive to create a vaccine for HIV and are likely to wait to profit from it after the government develops one.
And that means the government has had to spend more time focusing on the processes that drug companies ordinarily follow in developing new medicines and bringing them to market.
"We had to spend some time and energy paying attention to those aspects of development because the private side isn't picking it up," Dr. Edmund Tramont testified in a deposition in an employment lawsuit obtained by the Associated Press.
Tramont is head of the AIDS research division of the National Institutes of Health, and he predicted in his testimony that the government will create a vaccine. He testified in July in the whistle-blower case of Dr. Jonathan Fishbein, who recently was reinstated by NIH.
"If we look at the vaccine, HIV vaccine, we're going to have an HIV vaccine. It's not going to be made by a company," Tramont said. "They're dropping out like flies because there's no real incentive for them to do it. We have to do it."
"They will eventually — if it works, they won't have to make that big investment. And they can make it and sell it and make a profit," he said.
An official of the group representing the country's major drug companies took exception to Tramont's comments.
"That is simply not true. America's pharmaceutical research companies are firmly committed to HIV/AIDS vaccine research and development with 15 potential vaccines in development today," said Ken Johnson, senior vice president of PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
"Vaccine research is crucial to controlling the AIDS pandemic and our companies are well aware of the need to succeed in this vital area of science," Johnson said.
In an e-mail response for comment, Tramont said the HIV vaccine mirrors the history of other vaccines. "It is not just a HIV vaccine — it's all vaccines — that is why there was/is a shortage of flu vaccines," Tramont wrote.
The quest for an AIDS vaccine has been one of science's biggest disappointments despite billions of dollars and years of research. Part of the dilemma is that such a vaccine must work through the immune system that AIDS compromises.
The failure in the past couple years of one of the more promising vaccine candidates has bred some frustration.
The United Nations' top HIV/AIDS official acknowledged earlier this year at a conference that it no longer is realistic to hope that the world will meet its goal of halting and reversing the spread of the pandemic by 2015. A British delegate to that conference predicted it might take 20 years before such a vaccine is created.
The International AIDS Vaccines Initiative, a not-for-profit group pushing for an AIDS vaccine, said there are more than 30 vaccine candidates being tested, mostly on a small scale in 19 counties, but it acknowledges many are pursuing a similar theory of science that may prove futile.
"If the hypothesis is proven incorrect, the pipeline of candidates now in trials will be rendered mostly irrelevant. Strong alternative hypotheses have been largely neglected," the group said.
IAVI estimates total annual spending on an AIDS vaccine research is $682 million.
"This represents less than 1 percent of total spending on all health product development," IAVI said.
"Private sector efforts amount to just $100 million annually. This is mainly due to the lack of incentives for the private sector to invest in an AIDS vaccine — the science is difficult, and the developing countries that need a vaccine most are least able to pay."
What do we need an HIV vacine for? It's almost impossible to 'catch' unless you participate in some very dangerous behavior. Is the vacine needed or wanted by the gay community?
What would the market rate be for a vaccine for such a small group with access to such good legal help?
Translation: US taxpayers haven't paid enouigh. BOHICA.
>Let Canada develop it. They do drugs cheap.
Now with legalized group sex, there is even more pressure on them.
The same people griping about drug company profits are the ones demanding more research spending for this vaccine. As soon as it comes out, there will be lawsuits over side effects and demands for selling the product at a loss.
If I ran a drug company, this would be the LAST thing I would focus on.
"Translation: US taxpayers haven't paid enough."
I think he means drug companies make more money treating aids than preventing it.
Damn agendas!
How did this socialist ever get named to a position in a Republican administration?
So what. The fact is that numbers-wise, AIDS just is not that big a health problem. Not a major cause of death, now an increasingly manageable chronic illness. Anyone who doesn't want to get it doesn't have to, since it is almost entirely due to self-inflicted risk factors which are known and understood. Rationally speaking, a vaccine really is not all that crucial.
Screw the HIV vaccine. I'm more worried about vaccine making capacity for the next flu pandemic.If and when we have one it will kill more people in 5 to 6 months than have died from AIDs in 24 years. Bank on it.
It should be developed. Bad people do bad things.
Illegal with HIV rapes women.
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=117648
I don't see an incentive either when some third world hellhole can just steal your vaccine an make it on the cheap without paying you one red cent in compensation.
Not enough $$$ in an AIDS vaccine.It's just that simple.
Blocking Previously Unrecognized Links Between Inflammatory Systems Could Make COX-2 Inhibitors Safe
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Right. My girlfriend is Type 1 diabetic. Where's her vaccine? Where is Liz Taylor?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.