mwfolsom%hydra.unm.edu@ariel.unm.edu (Mike Folsom) (02/08/91)
I saw this on GayNet and wondered if anyone knew anything about this vaccine or the company that's producing it. Mike ******************************************************************************** Forwarded message: > > ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- > > Date: Wed, 06 Feb 91 10:44:13 HNE > Subject: HIV vaccin... > From: An Anonymous Sender > > * * * PLEASE POST ANONYMOUSLY * * * > I'm posting this anonymously, since I want to avoid a tide of questions. > (I'm not allow to reveal results, And the researchers > don't know I'm posting this.) > > HIV vaccin (VAXSYN) is also under trial here in Montreal. Phase I study > was started last may. A Phase II study (placebo) started a few weeks ago. > Subjects are HIV+ with CD4 count > 500. > In phase I two groups of 10 patients received 4 doses > over a 4 months period. > In overall, > after 6 months, 16 (out of 20) subjects show increase in CD4 count, > decrease in CD8, higher mitogen response and increase in anti-HIV > specific antibodies. In overall results appear very positive. > The results should be submit for publication this month. > So, all this should be public soon. > * * * PLEASE POST ANONYMOUSLY * * * > > ---------------------------------------------------------- ******************************************************************************* -- Michael W. Folsom (mwfolsom@unmvm) -or- (mwfolsom@unmvm.unm.edu) Dept. of Biology // UNM (mwfolsom@hydra.unm.edu) Albuquerque, NM 87131 505-277-3859 office -or- 505-277-3505 lab *******************************************************************************
dgreen@uunet.UU.NET (02/11/91)
mwfolsom%hydra.unm.edu@ariel.unm.edu (Mike Folsom) writes: |> I saw this on GayNet and wondered if anyone knew anything about this |> vaccine or the company that's producing it. Anonymous said: |> > HIV vaccin (VAXSYN) is also under trial in Montreal. Phase I study |> > was started last may. A Phase II study (placebo) started a few weeks ago. |> > Subjects are HIV+ with CD4 count > 500. |> > In phase I two groups of 10 patients received 4 doses |> > over a 4 months period. |> > In overall, |> > after 6 months, 16 (out of 20) subjects show increase in CD4 count, |> > decrease in CD8, higher mitogen response and increase in anti-HIV |> > specific antibodies. In overall results appear very positive. |> > The results should be submit for publication this month. |> > So, all this should be public soon. I believe VAXSYN is produced by MicroGeneSys. It is a synthetic gp160 protein (gp160 appears on the HIV coat). I was part of a group of HIV- guinea pigs for it. No adverse effects, except for the typical vaccine thing: a sore arm. Oh yeah, and a minor sociological adverse effect: I produce misleadingly positive HIV antibody tests now. Of course, this is not a problem for HIV infected individuals. It's quite exciting to hear this good news about the effects of VAXSYN on HIV+ individuals! (Weird twist on the role of a vaccine, eh?) Thanks, anonymous, for keeping us up to date! You can always find out more about this stuff by calling the NIH AIDS Trial number: 1-800-TRIALSA. I believe the USA is running its own set of HIV+ VAXSYN trials. Regards, ____ \ /Dan Greening IBM T.J.Watson Research Center NY (914) 784-7861 \/ dgreen@ibm.com Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-0704 CA (213) 825-2266
sys0002@dircon.co.uk (Julian Hayward) (02/12/91)
bywater!arnor!dgreen@uunet.UU.NET replies to: >|> > HIV vaccin (VAXSYN) is also under trial in Montreal. Phase I study >|> > was started last may. A Phase II study (placebo) started a few weeks ago. >... I was part of a group of >HIV- guinea pigs for it. No adverse effects, except for the typical >vaccine thing: a sore arm. Oh yeah, and a minor sociological >adverse effect: I produce misleadingly positive HIV antibody tests now. >Of course, this is not a problem for HIV infected individuals. >Regards, >____ >\ /Dan Greening IBM T.J.Watson Research Center NY (914) 784-7861 > \/ dgreen@ibm.com Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-0704 CA (213) 825-2266 Dan, Out of interest, how can they tell if the treatment is successful when it causes HIV- individuals like yourself to show HIV+? Is there a further test which can identify the difference from real HIV infected cells? I'd imagine you'd have a difficult time explaining this to an insurance company, perhaps they are more intelligent in the US/Canada. Julian -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- ()_() JULES | sys0002@dircon.co.uk (_) a.k.a. Julian Hayward | ----------------------------------------------------------------- -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- ()_() JULES | sys0002@dircon.co.uk (_) a.k.a. Julian Hayward | -----------------------------------------------------------------
rpetsche@mrg.PHYS.CWRU.Edu (rolfe g petschek) (02/13/91)
In article <1991Feb12.142731.29249@cs.ucla.edu> sys0002@dircon.co.uk (Julian Hayward) writes: >bywater!arnor!dgreen@uunet.UU.NET replies to: > > >Out of interest, how can they tell if the treatment is successful when >it causes HIV- individuals like yourself to show HIV+? Is there a further >test which can identify the difference from real HIV infected cells? There are such tests but they are harder than the usual anti-body test for HIV. Probably the most accurate (though it is not without dispute) is the polymerase chain reaction which will test if there is RNA with the pattern of [part of] the genetic code of the virus. This is how the presence of HIV in a British sailor who died in the 1950's was detected. The possible difficulty with this is that it does not demonstrate infection with the virus - only the presence of the virus and there is some dispute therefore that it correctly indicates the time in which a person can have an active HIV infection but not be sero-positive for HIV antibodies. -- Rolfe G. Petschek Petschek@cwru.bitnet Associate Professor of Physics rgp@po.cwru.edu Case Western Reserve University (216)368-4035 Cleveland Oh 44106-2623
dgreen@uunet.UU.NET (02/14/91)
sys0002@dircon.co.uk (Julian Hayward) writes: |> bywater!arnor!dgreen@uunet.UU.NET replies to: |> |> >|> > HIV vaccin (VAXSYN) is also under trial in Montreal. ... |> >... I was part of a group of |> >HIV- guinea pigs for it. No adverse effects, except for the typical |> >vaccine thing: a sore arm. Oh yeah, and a minor sociological |> >adverse effect: I produce misleadingly positive HIV antibody tests now. |> >Of course, this is not a problem for HIV infected individuals. |> Out of interest, how can they tell if the treatment is successful when |> it causes HIV- individuals like yourself to show HIV+? Is there a further |> test which can identify the difference from real HIV infected cells? |> I'd imagine you'd have a difficult time explaining this to an insurance |> company, perhaps they are more intelligent in the US/Canada. An experienced Western Blot interpreter can tell the difference between an infected an uninfected HIV antibody+ result (there are several antibody bands missing on uninfected individuals). However, the three bands that show up on my Western Blot are pretty strong and I show a strongly positive Elisa, so who knows what happens if an idiotic interpreter comes across it? As for insurance, I haven't been in a situation to test this problem (until recently HIV Ab tests were illegal for insurance purposes--they may still be, but I think I remember hearing about some contrary judicial decision in California.) ____ \ /Dan Greening IBM T.J.Watson Research Center NY (914) 784-7861 \/ dgreen@ibm.com Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-0704 CA (213) 825-2266