Immunitor publishes peer-reviewed article on affordable AIDS drugs
Immunitor Corporation – Thai biotech company- announces
publication of ‘Low-cost anti-HIV compounds: Potential
application for AIDS therapy in developing countries’ in Current
Pharmaceutical Design (Vol. 9(18): pp. 1419-1431, 2003). The abstract
of the paper can be found on the PubMed website of the National
Library of Medicine (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12769722&dopt=Abstract).
The essential elements of this paper were first presented last year at
IAEN symposium: ‘Economics of HIV/AIDS in Developing
Countries’, which was held during 14th International AIDS
conference in Barcelona, in July 2002
(www.iaen.org/files.cgi/7014_Bourinbaiar.pdf). IAEN or International
AIDS Economics Network is a multinational NGO which focuses on
affordable HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, by providing data,
tools, and analysis for researchers and policymakers working to define
and implement cost-effective AIDS policy.
Considerable progress has been made in recent years in the field of
drug development against HIV. However, the current cost of AIDS drugs
is the main obstacle that prevents their use in developing countries,
where 98% of HIV-infected patients reside. The average yearly price of
AIDS therapy and related health care of affected patients in
industrialized countries runs as high as $22,000 – an amount
that corresponds to the combined income of as many as one hundred
individuals in developing countries. Even in these countries, patients
without medical insurance cannot afford the costly therapy. From the
beginning it was clear that the most feasible and economic means of
reaching this goal is to identify anti-HIV drugs among already
available and preferably over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, which have
historically been used for unrelated clinical purposes.
Immunitor’s paper summarizes its own original research relating
to development and discovery of affordable and potentially promising
AIDS drugs. The anti-HIV activity of drugs and immunomodulating
substances such as warfarin, cimetidine, levamisole, acetaminophen,
gramicidin, and V-1 Immunitor (an oral AIDS vaccine also known as V1)
are described and discussed in relation to their clinical application.
President of Immunitor, pharmacologist Vichai Jirathitikal, noted that
‘…the publication of this landmark paper coincides with
the 2nd anniversary of the public launch of V1 in Thailand. The first
mass-distribution took place on June 2, 2001 at Thai-Japan stadium in
Bangkok. On that historic day we gave V1 to 4,000 people. During
summer and fall of 2001 we have treated free-of-charge 40,000 AIDS
patients. Today, over 65,000 patients in more than 60 countries,
including 26 countries in Africa, have benefited from our relentless
effort. We have been and still are facing the resistance to our work.
It is difficult to be a pioneer in this highly competitive field
especially if you are from the third world country. Nevertheless
despite difficulties and lack of public funds we were able to publish
our clinical data in several peer-reviewed international journals and
this publication is another proof that a small company like ours can
make the difference on global AIDS crisis.’ For further
information and reprints request please write: info at immunitor.com
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