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In the Press HIV a moving target for keen biotechs A handful of Australian biotechs are in the race for the next blockbuster HIV drug, writes Eli Greenblat. The human and economic costs associated with HIV/AIDS has fuelled an investment frenzy in the biotech sector over the past decade, and Australian companies are joining the race to find a solution to the epidemic. A handful of biotechnology companies are engaged in various stages of drug discovery to produce the next blockbuster HIV drug. They are part of a global biotech push that is pouring billions of dollars of shareholder funds into inventing drugs to prevent the spread of HIV as well as slow the disease down once it has taken hold. This week, Narhex Life Sciences announced it would begin recruiting healthy volunteers for clinical trials of its HIV inhibitor drug, DG17. These inhibitors are an integral part of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), which is now the standard of care for patients with an HIV infection. The problem for biotech companies and scientists is that HIV is continually mutating, making old drugs useless and driving the need for new types of treatments. The company is eager to boost the rate of absorption of its drug into the body and the trial will test this crucial feature. The start of a trial follows an announcement by Starpharma this week that it had received coveted fast-track status from US health officials for its HIV/AIDS preventive VivaGel. VivaGel is a preventative application rather than a drug and is a water-based vaginal microbicide gel designed to halt the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Also well down the drug discovery path is Avexa, whose lead compound is in late-stage human trials and which could be on the market by 2009. Avexa targets patients who have become resistant to popular HIV drugs and need a new formula to combat the disease. Narhex managing director John Mills said the industry was increasingly viewing HIV as a chronic disease, meaning people would live a normal lifespan while managing the health issue with various drugs. It was hoped Narhex's DG17 would be one such drug that could be used in HAART treatments and extend the life of infected people for years, even decades and perhaps for life. "The purpose of this study is to test an improved formulation of DG17, which we believe will increase the extent and reliability of its absorption," Professor Mills said. He estimated the market for new HAART treatments was between $US100 million ($133 million) and $US200 million a year. The World Health Organisation recently reported that HIV/AIDS was the fourth-biggest cause of mortality worldwide. Since the disease hit world headlines more than two decades ago, about 58 million people have been infected with HIV/AIDS. According to the UN's 2004 report on the global AIDS epidemic, 38 million people are living with HIV. The disease threatens to destroy entire communities in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions in the Third World, while unofficial figures from China suggest nearly 10 million people could be infected by the end of the decade. Reflecting the importance of combating the disease, Avexa recently signed an agreement with the CSIRO to share expertise in discovering new drugs for the treatment of serious human viral diseases. Both will work to identify drug leads and develop new compounds to eventually take in testing and trials. It is expected that once a suitable and promising drug candidate is found, Avexa will form a development team to pursue clinical and human studies. Listing helps put biotech's AIDS drug on fast track Narhex eyes drug registration in China Narhex shares debut above issue price Major partnership with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for Narhex Life Sciences |
