Novel biologic therapy for HIV-infected patients hangs in the balance as major currency gyrations threaten its future development.
Speaking at a plenary session of the 8th European Biotech Crossroads event in Marseille, distinguished HIV researcher Professor Jean-Claude Chermann who leads a dedicated team of scientists at URRMA R&D based in Aubagne near Marseille, France reported on his lab’s recent development of recombinant anti-R7V antibodies that protect against HIV infection.
What the scientific team has achieved is quite remarkable in that there have been many attempts to develop therapeutic antibodies capable of neutralizing HIV, the retrovirus considered to be a causative agent associated with AIDS. HIV was originally discovered in 1983 by Chermann, working with Luc Montagnier at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and also (by later agreement) by Dr Robert Gallo working independently at the National Cancer Institute in the USA.
The focus of Chermann’s latest development work, first reported in 2002 [1], is the R7V cellular antigen associated with the HIV envelope. In non-progressor patients, a new class of antibodies against the R7V epitope will completely neutralize the retrovirus. However, as with many new ’miracle’ treatments and ’magic bullets,’ such important milestones that marked the evolution of a modern bio/pharmaceutical industry, a lot of development work still needs to be done before a novel concept discovered in the research lab will be developed to meet the standards required by the regulators, produced in bulk and subjected to rigorous clinical trials. Only then can a potentially new approach to tackle the AIDS epidemic that ravages sub-Saharan Africa, India and, increasingly, many other parts of the world open up, using a powerful new tool in the fight against HIV.
Regrettably, pioneering work such as that of Chermann and his team at Aubagne is at the mercy of a funding crisis in the biotech sector, made even worse by currency fluctuations.
The Canadian biopharmaceutical arm of URRMA, based in Québec, has seen its R&D costs in Canadian dollar terms spiral out of control, thanks to appreciation of the Euro. If the hopes of new therapeutic vaccines for millions of the world’s poorest populations cannot be realised because of a short-term funding gap, the prospect looms for an exciting development project being completely abandoned.
This project is one that cannot be ’put on the shelf ’ for a future date. The challenge, as elsewhere in the life science sector, is to find the investment to fund today what the world of life science needs for tomorrow and the future.
Reference
[1] Camille Haslin and Jean-Claude Chermann. Anti-R7V antibodies as therapeutics for HIV-infected patients in failure of HAART. ’Current Opinion in Biotechnology’, December 2002, 13:6, 621-624.
Further information about URRMA R&D
Contact Advances in Life Science
About the 8th European Biotechnology Crossroads
Keywords : AIDS HIV Biological therapy Anti R7V antibodies gp-120 glycoprotein Baculovirus expression vector (BEV) system Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) URRMA R&D J-C Chermann and Camille Haslin Aubagne France Bioméditerranée
<< Back
