.....EXCLUSIVE
Report....
Medical analysts
predict Aids drugs
will increasingly fail
by
Fintan Dunne
Editor, AidsMyth.com
26th
Sept 2000
The
pharmaceutical industry's own analysts now expect the current generation of
Aids inhibitor drugs will increasingly fail -- leading to higher sales of
drugs for full-blown Aids conditions. This follows recent reports of resurgent
diseases in Aids patients on HAART 'combination' therapy.
The
forthcoming study predicts
increased demand for new anti-fungal drugs, due
to what it terms "the broad implications of potential
resistance to HAART and possible long-term toxicity of this therapy."
By describing the implications as "broad,"
the study is signaling confidence in its prediction. Study author, Decision
Resource, Inc., advises all of the top 25 global pharmaceutical corporations.
The
research publishers say they expect increases in severe fungal infections
(SFI's),
which will help "fuel
rapid changes" in the market for
new SFI drugs aimed at classic Aids-indicator diseases such as PCP pneumonia.
This would reverse the declining sales trend in SFI drugs since the introduction
of HAART therapy for Aids, because Aids sufferers comprise the majority of
the worldwide SFI patient population.
This market is now described by the Strategic Overview of Severe Fungal Infections
study as being "poised for growth."
AIDS
DISEASES REBOUND
Last week, scientists
at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, reported that AIDS patients
whose conditions had been improving had been coming under attack from opportunistic
infections that ordinarily should not have been much of a problem. Their Annals
of Internal Medicine report said they were startled by the fact that the infections
were affecting patients who had been benefiting from so-called highly active
antiretroviral therapy (HAART) which uses combinations of powerful anti-HIV
drugs.
"The [mycobacterium
avium] infection
was not showing up in someone with end-stage AIDS who wasn't taking antiretrovirals
and HAART, but someone getting better and on HAART,'' Thomas Jefferson University's
Dr. Joseph DeSimone said in a statement. "No one is exactly sure what
to do against this syndrome yet.''
These problems with HAART first surfaced more than a year ago. Researchers
then spoke with colleagues to learn whether others had seen similar developments.
They found that doctors at other hospitals mentioned similar infections showing
the same rebound pattern.
"The AIDS-related blindness some patients experience was getting better,
and when patients were started on their HAART therapy they overall were getting
better,'' said Dr. Timothy Babinchak, clinical director of infectious diseases
at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. "But then they seemed to be
getting an aggravation of their disease."
The latest developments are likely to be of great concern to clinicians working
with Aids, and will also energize the political controversy over the efficacy
of current generation anti-HIV medicines.
by Fintan Dunne
Editor www.aidsmyth.com
Sources
PR
Newswire Press Release
Decision
Resources Inc.
Decision
Resources, Inc., is a world leader in primary and secondary research publications,
multi-client advisory services, and customized consulting. More than 1,000
leading organizations and 100 percent of the 25 largest global pharmaceutical
companies turn to Decision Resources for their strategic planning, market
development, and competitive intelligence requirements.
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