News (Updated September 27, 2009)

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Notable dates in the AIDS epidemic

By The Associated Press The Associated Press Thu Sep 24, 2009

Key dates in the AIDS epidemic:

_June 5, 1981: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports five gay men in Los Angeles are suffering from a rare pneumonia found in patients with failing immune systems.

_May 1983: The virus that causes AIDS is identified.

_May 26, 1988: The U.S. government mails "Understanding AIDS," an educational pamphlet to 110 million American homes.

_Aug. 18, 1989: The number of AIDS cases reported in the United States reaches 100,000.

_June 1991: By the 10-year anniversary of AIDS, more than 250,000 Americans have been diagnosed with it and up to 1.5 million more people are infected with HIV.

_Dec. 7, 1995: The FDA approves a new class of drugs for treating HIV, protease inhibitors, a move the government calls some of the most hopeful news in years for AIDS patients. The drugs help transform the disease to a manageable chronic illness.

_Feb. 27, 1997: The government reports a 13 percent drop in AIDS deaths in the first half of 1996, the first significant drop in the epidemic's history.

_Jan. 31, 1999: Researchers report they have convincing proof that the AIDS virus has spread three separate times from chimpanzees to people in Africa — one of the transmissions starting the worldwide epidemic.

_June 2001: At the 20th anniversary of AIDS, the number of Americans diagnosed with the disease tops 700,000. More than 420,000 have died. Worldwide, more than 36 million people are infected with the AIDS virus, with more than 16,000 new infections each day.

_Aug. 23, 2001: The growing scale of the AIDS epidemic in China is acknowledged for the first time by its government.

_Oct. 16, 2001: South African health officials issue a report on the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in that country.

_Nov. 7, 2002: The FDA approves an easy-to-use 20-minute HIV test.

_Jan. 28, 2003: President Bush in his State of the Union address proposes $15 billion in funding in the next five years for emergency AIDS relief in Africa and the Caribbean .

_February 2003: Two big studies find that AIDSVAX, an experimental vaccine made by VaxGen, did not protect against infection with HIV.

_Feb. 17, 2004: A U.N. report warns of the growing AIDS crisis in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union .

_March 24, 2004: The FDA approves an oral HIV test that gives results in 20 minutes.

_September 2007: An international test of Merck & Co.'s experimental vaccine is stopped early, because the shots seemed to offer no protection. Further study of the results found potential increased risk of HIV infection among certain men who received the vaccine, although the vaccine itself did not cause infection. A second study also was halted.

_July 2008: UNAIDS estimates the number of deaths worldwide from AIDS in 2007 at 2 million; the number of people living with the AIDS virus is estimated at 33 million. Nearly 7,500 people worldwide become infected each day, UNAIDS estimates.

_Sept. 24, 2009: Researchers say an experimental vaccine — a combination of two previously unsuccessful ones — cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by 31 percent in a trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand . But officials caution it likely will be many years before a vaccine might be available.

Sector Snap: HIV vaccine developers

Drug developers little changed on HIV study data; GenVec, Vical gain on separate announcements

On Thursday September 24, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of several companies developing potential HIV vaccines were little changed in reaction to Thursday's announcement from researchers that they may be on track for a breakthrough HIV vaccine.

The World Health Organization and the U.N. agency UNAIDS said a combination of two previously unsuccessful vaccines cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent in the world's largest AIDS vaccine trial. The study involved more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand .

The U.S. Army sponsored the study with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The study involved the drugs ALVAC, from Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine division of French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis, and AIDSVAX, originally developed by VaxGen Inc. The latter drug is now held by Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases, a nonprofit founded by some former VaxGen employees.

U.S.-listed shares of Sanofi-Aventis gave up 30 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $36.91 in midday trading.

Elsewhere, shares of Gaithersburg, Md.-based GenVec Inc. jumped 4 cents, or 4.6 percent, to 80 cents. The company announced Thursday that the NIH executed its third option period, or fourth year, under a five-year contract for the development of HIV vaccine candidates. The company will receive up to $2.3 million under the contract, which has a total value of $52 million.

Vical Inc., which also has a partnership with NIH, gained 22 cents, or 5.2 percent, to reach $4.44, as the San Diego company announced positive results from a preclinical cancer vaccine study.

Meanwhile, shares of San Diego-based Inovio Biomedical Corp. fell 10 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $1.52. The company focuses on developing DNA-based vaccines, including one for HIV.

Targeted Genetics Corp., Seattle, saw its shares trade down a penny at 34 cents.

Companies currently making other HIV treatments dipped slightly. U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline shed 66 cents to reach $38.96 while Foster City, Calif.-based Gilead Sciences Inc. fell 28 cents to $45.60.

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