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From: bywater!arnor!dgreen@uunet.UU.NET
Newsgroups: soc.motss,sci.med.aids
Subject: Re: Something from GayNet re:HIV vaccine.
Message-ID: <1991Feb11.005044.7108@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: 10 Feb 91 23:12:46 GMT
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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