AIDS expert has theory on vaccine's delay

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an unusually candid admission, the federal
chief of AIDS research says he believes drug companies don't have an
incentive to create a vaccine for the HIV and are likely to wait to profit
from it after the government develops one.

That means the government has had to spend more time focusing on the
processes that drug companies ordinarily follow in developing new
medicines and bringing them to market.

"We had to spend some time and energy paying attention to those aspects
of development because the private side isn't picking it up," Dr. Edmund
Tramont testified in a deposition in a recent employment lawsuit obtained
by The Associated Press.

Tramont is head of the AIDS research division of the National Institutes
of Health, and he predicted in his testimony that the government will
eventually create a vaccine. He testified in July in the whistleblower
case of Dr. Jonathan Fishbein.

"If we look at the vaccine, HIV vaccine, we're going to have an HIV
vaccine. It's not going to be made by a company," Tramont said.
"They're dropping out like flies because there's no real incentive for
them to do it. We have to do it."

"They will eventually -- if it works, they won't have to make that big
investment. And they can make it and sell it and make a profit," he
said.

Struggles for vaccines

An official of the group representing the country's major drug companies
took sharp exception to Tramont's comments.

"That is simply not true. America's pharmaceutical research companies
are firmly committed to HIV/AIDS vaccine research and development
with 15 potential vaccines in development today," said Ken Johnson,
senior vice president of PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America.

"Vaccine research is crucial to controlling the AIDS pandemic and
our companies are well aware of the need to succeed in this vital
area of science," Johnson said.

In an e-mail response for comment, Tramont said the HIV vaccine
mirrors the history of other vaccines. "It is not just a HIV vaccine -
it's all vaccines - that is why there was/is a shortage of flu vaccines,"
Tramont wrote.

The quest for an AIDS vaccine has been one of science's biggest
disappointments despite billions of dollars and years of research.
Part of the dilemma is that such a vaccine must work through the
very immune system that AIDS compromises.

The failure in the last couple years of one of the more promising
vaccine candidates has bred some frustration.

Hope delayed

The United Nations' top HIV/AIDS official acknowledged earlier
this year at a conference that it was no longer realistic to hope that
the world will meet its goal of halting and reversing the spread of
the pandemic by 2015. A British delegate to that conference
predicted it might take 20 years before such a vaccine is created.

The International AIDS Vaccines Initiative, a not-for-profit group
that is pushing for an AIDS vaccine, said there are more than 30
vaccine candidates being tested mostly on a small scale in 19
counties, but it acknowledges many are pursuing a similar theory
of science that may prove futile.

"If the hypothesis is proven incorrect, the pipeline of candidates
now in trials will be rendered mostly irrelevant. Strong alternative
hypotheses have been largely neglected," the group said.

IAVI estimates total annual spending on an AIDS vaccine is $682 million.

"This represents less than 1% of total spending on all health
product development," IAVI said. "Private sector efforts
amount to just $100 million annually. This is mainly due to the
lack of incentives for the private sector to invest in an AIDS
vaccine -- the science is difficult, and the developing countries
that need a vaccine most are least able to pay."