Support provides anti-retroviral therapy for vaccine trial participants
WASHINGTON, March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Quintiles Transnational Corp., the
world's leading pharmaceutical services organization, today announced it has
donated $100,000 to the Seattle Vaccine Research Fund (SVRF) to support anti-
retroviral treatment for HIV vaccine trial participants who become infected
during vaccine studies.
The recently formed Seattle Vaccine Research Fund was established to
ensure access to treatment for individuals who volunteer in an HIV vaccine
trial and who become infected with the virus through their behavior. The fund
will pay for anti-retroviral treatment if the study participant's country does
not have a treatment program in place.
"Our decision to support the vaccine fund evolved quite naturally," said
Oren Cohen, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Quintiles Transnational Corp. "All
of us at Quintiles are committed to advancing public health solutions by using
our experience and expertise to help address the growing public health
challenges the world is facing."
"One of the greatest challenges we face today is development of a vaccine
to prevent HIV. Because advancing vaccine research requires human volunteers,
we believe that we have an ethical responsibility to support access to HIV
treatment."
In 2003, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network announced that participants who
become infected during the trial will receive long-term anti-retroviral
treatment.
The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) is the largest clinical trials
program devoted to the development and testing of preventive HIV vaccines
worldwide. The Network's HIV Vaccine Trial Units are located at leading
research institutions in 27 cities on four continents.
HVTN is funded and supported by the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). By
Congressional statute, NIH research funds cannot be used to pay for treatment
that is not the specific focus of research. The Seattle Vaccine Research Fund
was established to fill this gap -- to provide therapy using donations from
other sources to ensure that infected volunteers have access to treatment.
"While there is no way to contract HIV or AIDS from the vaccine, we
believe we have a moral responsibility to help those who have agreed to
participate in the vaccine trials who might later need treatment," said Larry
Corey, principal investigator of the HVTN and president of the Seattle Vaccine
Research Fund. "We are very grateful to Quintiles for their support of this
important endeavor."
About Quintiles
Quintiles is the global leader in pharmaceutical services, improving
healthcare worldwide by providing innovative, quality professional expertise,
market intelligence and partnering solutions to meet the dynamic needs of the
pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare industries. Quintiles has 16,000
specialized employees and offices in 50 countries. For more information visit
the company's Web site at http://www.quintiles.com.
About the Seattle Vaccine Research Fund
The Seattle Vaccine Research Fund is based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center in Seattle, Washington. The SVRF Board of Directors includes
Dr. Larry Corey; Dr. Judith Wasserheit, Director of the HVTN; Ms. Myra Tanita,
COO of the Hutchinson Center; Mr. Henry Warden, Vice President, Strategic
Development and Planning at the Hutchinson Center; as well as two members of
The Hutchinson Center Board of Directors: Mssrs. Chuck Hirsch and Scott
Wilson.
BIO
Dr. Cohen is clinical professor of medicine on the Infectious Diseases
faculty at the George Washington University Medical Center. He completed his
fellowship in infectious diseases in 1994 at the National Institute for
Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and spent seven years conducting basic
and clinical HIV/AIDS research in the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation.
In addition, he has published more than 50 scientific papers and chapters,
served as NIAID assistant director for medical affairs and co-authored the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Guidelines on Antiretroviral
Therapy.
Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
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Oren Cohen, M.D.
http://profnet.prnewswire.com/ud_public.jsp?userid=10019704
SOURCE Quintiles Transnational Corp.
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Related links:
http://www.quintiles.com
CONTACT:
Mari Mansfield, Media Relations of Quintiles
Transnational Corp., +1-919-998-2639, or
mari.mansfield@quintiles.com; or Sarah Alexander of HIV Vaccine
Trials Network, +1-206-667-5296
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