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8
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
SCI|TECH
THE BATTALION
AIDS vaccine fails, raises questions
Ethnicity may play a role in treatment of the disease
By Paul Elias
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — The failure of an
experimental AIDS vaccine in its first
major test has shattered hopes of develop
ing a shield against infection in the near
future and demonstrated just how far sci
entists are from bringing the deadly virus
under control.
Still, the results made public Monday
contained an intriguing finding: The vac
cine appeared to work well in the small
number of blacks who participated.
Scientists said more study is needed to
draw any conclusions.
The drug’s developer, Vaxgen Inc., said
that overall there was no meaningful dif
ference in protection between the 3,330
volunteers who received the genetically
engineered vaccine and the 1,679 volun
teers who received a placebo. All partici
pants were at high risk of contracting the
disease through sex.
Officials had been willing to give the
new drug approval even if it worked on
just one in three people.
“The AIDS virus is really wily and
mutates easily,” said Dr. Tom Coates,
director of the AIDS Research Institute at
the University of California at San
Francisco.
Dozens of companies, universities and
researchers are racing to develop their own
vaccines. Among them: Merck & Co.,
GlaxoSmithKline and Aventis Pasteur. But
none of those projects is considered as
advanced as Vaxgen’s.
AIDS vaccine fails test but still promising
An AIDS vaccine developed by VaxGen Inc. fell short of Food and
Drug Administration requirements in clinical trials, causing the
company's stock price to plummet
Stock performance
Daily dosings per shore
$30
Feb. 24—j
$6.86
JFMAMJ J ASONDJ FMAMJJ ASONDJF
01 02 *03
Study results
In a three-year study
the VaxGen vaccine
showed little impact
on infection rales
when compared lo a
placebo group
Among whites and
Hispanica. which
comprised the vast
majority of
participants, Ihe drug
showed no effect. It
does however seem
to have an impact
among other minority
groups.
HIV infection percentage 03 Placebo
■j Vaccine
Number of
participants 2 4 6 8 10%
White and 1.508
Hispanic 3
Other
minorities 1/1
combined 327
5.4%;
6.0%
SOURCES: VaxGen Inc.; Moneyilne Tolerate: Associated Prose AP
“Given the history of this field, I
wouldn’t place my money on anything,”
Coates said. “It’s really a very difficult
virus to stop.”
VaxGen, based in Brisbane, Calif., has
spent $200 million developing its
AIDSVAX vaccine and said it remains
hopeful the vaccine will someday help
slow the spread of AIDS. Results from
another big human experiment in Thailand
are expected to be released later this year.
The Thailand experiment involved
intravienous drug abusers.
Company executives conceded doubts
that the Food and Drug Administration
would approve the vaccine anytime soon.
“The disappointment comes from
working in AIDS. This is no doubt achal
lenging little bug,” said Dr. Donali
Francis, who co-founded the companyii
1995. “It’s not surprising that we woiill
have another challenge here. Butthedooi
is open, and we can see some light stream
ing in.”
VaxGen stock fell $6.16, or 47 perceai,
to close at $6.86 Monday on the Nasdai]
Stock Market. At one point during the day,
VaxGen was down to as little as $3.
The company’s stock has been extreme
ly volatile during the last year as rumor:
about the experiment’s results swirled.Ii
has traded as high as $23.25.
Still, Vaxgen executives said theywt
encouraged by the results among the 311
blacks who participated in the study.
The experiment showed that there were
78 percent fewer infections among blacl
volunteers who took the vaccine than those
who received a placebo. Four of the 213
blacks who received the vaccine became
infected, while nine of the 111 wb
received the placebo were infected. There
were similar results among the smallnum
her of Asians involved in the study.
The company said those results were
statistically significant and showed the
vaccine has value. But others warned that
the sample was too small.
“I am concerned that people will come
to the conclusion that we can make a deter
mi nation about protection,” said Chris
Collins, executive director of the AIDS
Vaccine Advocacy Coalition in NewYoi
“Further study is needed.”
Study finds ethnic differences in metabolic syndrome
By Lindsey Tanner
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO (AP) —- A syndrome linked to
obesity, diabetes and heart disease is most
common among Mexican-American women
and least common among black men, a study
found.
Metabolic syndrome affects about 22
percent of U.S. adults, or at least 47 mil
lion Americans. Symptoms often include
high blood pressure, poor cholesterol lev
els, high blood sugar and a disproportion
ately large waist.
Researchers analyzed data from a 1988-94
national health survey and found that preva
lence ranged from 27 percent of Mexican-
American women to 14 percent of black men.
The percentage of black and white
women affected was 21 percent and 23
percent respectively. Among men, the rates
were 21 percent for Mexican-Americans
and 24 percent for whites.
The disparities are probably due to
genetics, though there may be some
unknown environmental factors that the
study did not measure, said Columbia
University’s Dr. Steven Heymsfield, a co
author.
The ethnic differences remained even
after factors including body-mass index,
socioeconomic status and physical inactiv
ity — all linked to the syndrome — were
considered.
The findings appear in Monday’s
Archives of Internal Medicine. The study
was led by Dr. Yong-Woo Park of
Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Souti
Korea. Researchers from Stanford
University also participated.
The numbers are “staggering,” but the
data “are now 8 to 14 years old, and the
situation has likely worsened,” James Hill
and Dr. Daniel Bessesen of the University
of Colorado Health Sciences Center said in
an accompanying editorial.
The syndrome was present in at to/
half of obese people studied, morefaJ
percent of overweight people and lessta
6 percent of normal-weight people. It was
most common among smokers and in peo
ple age 50 and up.
Those affected are prone to developint
obesity, diabetes and heart disease, but
diet, exercise and quitting smoking can
reduce the risk.
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