Health : Pharma Giant Partners To Cure HIV
Mammoth British drugs company GlaxoSmithKline just formed a new venture as part of a 50/50 partnership with University of North Carolina. The enormous project for which GSK will provide a team of top scientists and $20 million over five years aims not to just prevent or treat HIV, but to finally cure it! The UNC will provide over 40 researchers to work with GSK’s team of scientists. The new company is called Qura Therapeutics LLC, it will manage intellectual property and other business matters related to the partnership.
The project will focus on a number of already-promising research avenues, including a ‘kick and kill’ approach that has had some success eradicating HIV in cancer patients.
Sir Andrew Witty the CEO of GSK said: “This partnership is a testament to our past and present leadership, innovation and commitment to this field. We are inspired by the confidence that with the right resources and research teams, we will be able to make a meaningful impact towards a cure for HIV.”
He ended up by saying : “For years, a cure to HIV was considered out of reach. But it has emerged as a potentially realistic goal over the past three or four years and attracted research funding, as scientists have identified possible approaches to eradicating the virus. We’re going to be very ambitious to try to make a big difference”!
In 2013, about 35 million people world-wide were infected with HIV, and 1.5 million people world-wide died of AIDS-related causes, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.
Let’s hope for the best!!!
Dave
YAY!!!!! Very encouraging news!!!!!
Read between the lines…
“A meaningful impact”
“Try to make a big difference”
That doesn’t sound like a cure is on the horizon, it sounds like hyperbole to keep the sheep…sheepish…
So many HIV breakthroughs have been announced only to see them fade from the media. I have HIV and it’s very well controlled but I still feel as if I’m unable to rejoin the mainstream of the gay community until I’m cured. Neither HIV or AIDS is a threat to me as long as I’m on the meds but my peace of mind would be restored when the cure is announced.
We need more of this. Would love to see $200 million vs. 20, but it’s a start!
I’ll believe it after everyone is cured. They make too much off death and suffering for me to even take it at face value.
Ron: I am with you. I feel exactly the way you expressed your feelings. Who knows maybe the financial motivation has changed and a cure is not lucrative. It is always about the money. When they say it is not about the money,it is about the money.
Respectfully,
Yeah, lotsa luck on that. Gilead is now REALLY curing HCV (most of the time) and has new single-pill regimens for it that eliminate the nasty effects of ribavirin and Sovaldi. But HCV is a MUCH simpler, “dumber” retrovirus than is HIV-1. We’ve been hearing about a “cure” for what…30 years now? They’re made SOME progress, and can inhibit its attack on T-cells with Truvada and others, but the fact is most poz guys out there are taking on load after load of different genotypes, which leads to eventual loss of control against replication and the pre-AIDS attack on T-cells. Until these guys get a CLUE about HOW TO ACT, it’ll keep on spreading. For patients who keep to themselves and are dealing with a SINGLE genotype, there’s the possibility of an antiiral cure probably in the next 10 years. For the hos out there, there probably never WILL be one. Of course, Big Pharma doesn’t ADDRESS the behavior issue, which has been proven to me by over 35 years’ experience…the responsible once whip the virus; the hos go treatment-resistant and die.
Cmat, you are right about that. Gilead’s making BILLIONS off the hos on Truvada, and that faulty PReP treatment is creating new clients in record numbers, highest since 1984 in the 13-24 yo age group…the “just take a pill” idiots. However, there IS progress being made on an antiviral cure for a SINGLE genotype, but these hos in the tubs…hell, they can pick up a dozen DIFFERENT genotypes in one weekend, more if they’re high on meth. There will NEVER be a cure for that…HIV-1 is too “smart” a virus and the drugs are incapable of fielding several non-related genotypes at the same time, and using multiple antivirals in a single patient can be lethal.
ADVISORY: Do NOT believe the hype Gilead’s putting out there about “Truvada PReP”…on its own, it is only 51% effective and blocking new infection. So, getting a poz load up the butt, your odds go from 1 in 156 to 1 in 290, approximately, and that with a “status unknown” top. With a proven poz top, getting it up the bum is around 1 in 30, and with PReP and no other behavior modification or condom, goes up to around 1 in 55. The tweekers don’t have enough brain function left to understand these numbers, but hey…go ahead! Just do NOT expect taxpayers (like me) to keep footing the bill for your stupidity. If Bush wins in ’16 (50/50 chance right now) and the GOP keeps the House, look for a LOT of these freebies to simply vanish. THEN what’re ya gonna do? TRY BEING SMART FOR ONCE!
Ron , you already are part of the mainstream gay community. But i understand u wanting a peace of mind.
No pharma giant is ever going to cure any chronic ailment. There’s too much money to be made by keeping people on medications
Big pharma is not a friend to any one but big pharma. Their interest in an HIV cure is motivated first and foremost by profit margins especially in the unregulated pharma market in the US. They contribute mightily to the Republican party to keep the pharmacy market in the US unregulated and not subject it to negotiated prices for consumers and the insurance industry. HIV meds are marketed in 3rd world countries for $30 for a 30 supply while in the US the exact same drug costs $1100-2100 per month. Pharma pays the FDA to extend the patents in the US and even when an HIV drug goes generic it is still marketed at 75-80% of its original costs. Congress ONLY allowed the Veterans Administration to negotiate drug prices and the VA pharmacy costs plummeted. Unfortunately, the same members of Congress (notably Republicans) blocked any and all efforts to extend the same kind of negotiated pharma prices to the rest of the US. It is NOT only HIV drugs; hepatitis meds, cancer meds etc. are artificially high in the US because that where’s big pharma makes most of the profits and that’s the way they and Congress want it. While the pharmacy industry spends enormous sums to develop a new med, they are rewarded 100’s of times over their costs when it hits the US market. The US is the ONLY western country that permits big pharma to advertise their drugs creating a new market for the newest and most costly drugs for patients to demand from their doctors when less costly drug alternatives are readily available. Drug patents are artificially extended by big pharma simply be changing the buffering agent in the original drugs. Again a ploy to keep exclusivity going and to forestall generic equivalents.
Let me set you guys straight (lol str8).
I am a man of science and am always appalled when people say, “Oh, they aren’t really finding a cure because of money.”
1. Your infectious disease doctors went to 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of med school, 3 years of internal medicine training, and 3 years of infectious disease subspecialty training. What does that mean? They spent more years training than some surgeons, yet they make the least within the field of medicine. I know tons of infectious disease doctors who go through out the world and donate their time to HIV stricken countries for free. And to say that these people are not working hard to find a cure is a slap to their face. They spend as much time training as plastic surgeons, but obviously the plastic surgeons salary is going to be at least 3-4x that of an infectious disease doctor. Shows what we value in society, huh?
2. The PhD’s doing the research are paid even less than infectious disease doctors. And there is actually financial motive to discover the cure because of the nobel prize (1 million dollars), not the opposite. The financial incentive to be known as the doctor who discovered the cure for AIDS will make millions and go down in history, which is something money cannot buy.
3. NIH funding is all dried up. With budget cuts, NIH funding is cut well into the bone and there is little to no research being done. How can me make advancements in the field of science when we don’t fund it? This is why pharmaceutical companies are not making as many new drugs. No new research done by slave PhD students = no new research to push the field of medicine forward = no new patents = no new drugs.
4. Medicare will have a pay freeze to all doctors from 2020-2026, even though the cost of new technology is skyrocketing with new innovations. So doctors will be making less, not more in the future.
5. HIV is a special kind of hell because it literally uses your body to hide from your neutrophils (aka your immune system).
The arrogance to claim that money is a motivating factor for why doctors do anything is laughable when you look at the real numbers. It is so easy to criticize when you know nothing of the scientific process. People pour years of blood, sweat, and tears (I have personally done HIV research for years at 2 different medical schools). And you are literally insulting the last few people who are fighting for you. You are literally biting the hand that feeds you that triple cocktail pill.
It is so insulting on so many levels.
Plus, there are tons of infectious disease fellowships going unfilled each year, so expect the number of infectious disease doctors to decrease all while reimbursement decreases for them specifically.
It would be great if they do come together n find a cure
When till “this cure” get to us.I always hear there is a cure,but yet there is always medication to treat the virus.I’ve been a survivor of HIV for over 10 years.They make more money off treating and suppressing the virus than they make curing the virus.And they say African Americans spread the virus more than Asians,Whites and Hispanics.Where do they get these racial profiling theories from,The Government who is trying to keep the cure from us?!!
Although I understand we all have varying points of views it amazes there are people in this community who can refer to another gay person as “hos” for being positive. Really? Too many times in this community people cry and scream for equal rights and to not be oppressed by society in general while at the same time promoting ignorance and intolerance in our own community. Shame on you guys for posting such inflammatory comments about someone with HIV. What makes a “ho” as you say? One partner, 2 partners? I am sure you have had your share and are lucky to have avoided exposure. That does not make you exempt in some eyes for being “hos” yourselves. And while you judge peoples behaviors I have to question what you might be doing on the day a cure is announced. Practicing celibacy? Doubt it!
Eric you have the best and most realistic comment.
It’s more profitable to keep us infected AND treatable..NOT cured
Eric has it exactly right: Big Pharma wants customers for LIFE, as in Life (pay up) or Death. They are the biggest Drug Dealers out there.
When was the last time pharma cured something? Polio?
Everything else is controlled by meds so they can make more $$
this way. I believe it when I see it
Vegas odds are 100:1 that MistrFistr is a chubby bottom.
Hmm… U know there are already people that cure themselves, cause they lack something one there white blood cells that HIV feeds one. All we have to do is do is blood transplants and let that blood mix with the blood that is already there. And once the HIV is gone from the face of the earth, no one will get it. I am not even a scientist, but that theory sounds more realistic. Cause HIV was formed from the “Black death.” 1/1mil European based heritage can fight it. But owell. What can a 22 year old do???
Twenty Million Dollars. But a drop in the bucket.
Hope they can do it. Best of luck folks.
Great News! that is a very good sign I absolutely believe that is a cure for the disease.
All the best,
Edward
I agree with Eric. The pharmacies are to money hungry to find a cure. Same goes for a cure for cancer. Not is my life time.
Fucking cynics. Yeah, if you want to paint Big Pharma as the devil, feel free. But there ARE people in positions of power who are willing to make the choice to help eradicate HIV, even at the expense of profit. It’s not all about making money off the living for eternity. Call me a fucking Pollyanna if you want, but when a big pharmaceutical company finds the cure, you know they’re going to spin it? WE CURED HIV — AND IF WE CAN DO THAT, WE CAN HELP YOU WITH YOUR OTHER AILMENTS. They take a loss in one place, they gain a shitload of followers for fucking life because of that massive victory. You watch.
I find this news odd…. A drug company like GlaxoSmithKline involved in curing a disease hope you know that drug companies don’t make money by curing anything. The Dr. that caught Ebola recently discovered the virus still lives in his eye…. I just see it as a ploy to make money… We go to school and spend so some much on education and over 100 years other than Penicillin and other antibiotics from our forefathers there hasn’t really been any cure for diseases…. It seems like diseases like Cancer, Dementia and AIDS are here to stay with little money going into R&D for cures. Its took over 200years for the US to get its first Black President as mixed a the US population is and I hope see a woman president before too long. Sorry I just feel this find a cure venture announcement as BS…. So many contributions and fund raising of millions from Superstars like Elton, Madonna, Angela, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson over 20 years and no cure…. May have to pay millions just for treatment to be cured….
A company that only thinks about money. They wake up everyday with one thing on their mind. If I have to lie, cheat, steal or kill to make money it will be done. And they are going to cure HIV? I have to laugh at that one.
20 Million is a nothing budget. Excuse my pessimistic view, but if Big Pharmaceutical is ready to release Billions of Dollars of profits from HIV medications with a cure, then they must be ready to release the next plague on the world. Maybe the most recent Ebola outbreak was just their test run.
Time will tell if this partnership is geared toward a cure or toward (as they say) “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” on the part of this pharma giant.
I’ll believe it when I see it. At the risk of sounding cynical — and I am — it’s far too profitable to treat AIDS/HIV as a chronic disease than a disease to be cured. The only reason big pharma would be trying to cure it is if their patents on the drugs to treat it are running out soon and there will soon be generic and affordable equivalents. Of course, the question also arises “why did it take decades to decide to try to find a cure?”
Doctor, we who speculate that big pharma doesnt want a cure, r not insulting the doctors, but the corporations who employ them and fund their research. With all thats going on in the world, from the drug war, mass incarciration, and the actual wars, its abundently clear that money dictates every single thing in our current society
It would be very nice to probe they will give a cure for HIV or AIDS, but sadly from time to time, they r killing us by giving and making us addictive/dependent on meds that (cure) us, it is simple since the beginning of the time such things like Power and Money it has, is and it will be about that, ppl spend too much on meds, ok simple as this, how come with all the technology n studies we have, they cannot cure a simple Flu? Because we generate money for them, we r just a sheeps where they keep treaming our wool n use it, we’ll be cold but we’ll make it, hope u can get my message, I am not trying to denied al the hard work lot of people do or sound negative , I personally would love to know that there is a cure for all that, cancer n many other diseases but I’m my opinion they r creating more sickness every time, if u look back some decades ago people were not so depending or not at all on meds, sadly now most of us are, I’m sorry if u guys don’t agree on my thoughts , it is nothing more than an opinion .
The partnership is with UNC School of Medicine. They are doing the research. People are walking around with their tin foil hats and conspiracy theory when we pledge to the Hippocratic Oath (to do no harm).
Secondly, pharmaceutical companies do not make drugs in a vacuum. Big pharma relies on medical schools and researchers, who are funded by the NIH, to do the heavy lifting. But NIH funding has been stagnant for over 10 years and the buying power of those labs are shrinking with inflation, higher cost of brand spanking new technology, and etc. Therefore, less research is being done and less drugs are being made. NIH AIDS research funding has been slashed for cancer research. This is why we don’t have a cure for AIDS. Not because I am trying to line my doctor pockets with money.
While doctors do, indeed, take the Hippocratic Oath, I would like to point out that corporations do not. If Big Pharma is relying on the NIH to fund their research, that only reinforces my skepticism. Pfizer has made $39,750,000,000 ($39.75 billion) in profits in the 12 months ending 3/31/15, according to wikinvest.com. This is more than the total NIH budget of $30.3 billion. GSK has made $26.41 billion in the 12 months ending 3/31/15. If they wanted to cure a disease, why aren’t some of these billions in pure profit being channeled into research and development. My skepticism and cynicism isn’t based on a “tin foil hat,” it’s based on pattern recognition.
the USA FEDERAL FUNDING FOR HIV AIDS FOR 2015:
$30.7 BILLION — THAT’S BILLION WITH a “B”
this included care, assistance, research, etc.
$20 million is the print advertising budget for a small sales pharma drug – per quarter.
get the facts , http://kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/u-s-federal-funding-for-hivaids-the-presidents-fy-2016-budget-request/