Mar 31 2008
NanoViricides announced that preliminary animal trials of HivCide-I™, the Company’s proposed HIV therapeutic, will begin soon at a BSL-3 facility in Boston, MA. The initial results are expected by the second week of May. These animal studies will be conducted by Dr. Krishna Menon, PhD, VMD, MRCS, a world-renowned authority in preclinical and toxicological studies of novel therapeutics.
“The need for more therapeutic alternatives to combat HIV is greater than ever, especially after the complete failure of two highly-publicized HIV vaccine trials, the first conducted by VaxGen and the second by Merck.” said Eugene Seymour, MD, MPH, CEO of NanoViricides.
Rethinking Is Urged on a Vaccine for AIDS, experts said at a scientific meeting on Tuesday, reported the New York Times. The AIDS Health Care Foundation called for the suspension of money for H.I.V. vaccine research and reallocating resources into effective H.I.V./AIDS prevention, testing and treatment strategies. But Dr. Fauci, the top federal official responsible for AIDS research, strongly rejected the proposal. “Under no circumstances will we stop AIDS vaccine research,” Dr. Fauci said at the conclusion of the meeting, the report further said.
“Control of viremia is the most important factor in keeping HIV infection from developing into symptomatic AIDS,” said Dr. Howard Fields, VP of Virology at the Company, adding “nanoviricides drugs are designed precisely for controlling viremia by eliminating the circulating virus.”
“This is a proof of principle study and will be expanded further with a larger follow-up study to be performed at a major government research institution later in the year,” added Dr. Anil R. Diwan, President of the Company.