8/4/2016GSK's announcement "goes part of the way, but it is not nearly far enough,” says Brook Baker, a legal expert at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. More

Chinese Researchers Experiment with Making HIV-Proof Embryos

Source: MIT Technology Review

Chinese fertility doctors have tried to make HIV-proof human embryos, but the experiments ended in a bust. The new report is the second time researchers in China revealed that they had a go at making genetically modified human embryos.

The controversial experiments are, in effect, feasibility studies of whether it’s possible to make super-people engineered to avoid genetic disorders or resist disease.

“It is foreseeable that a genetically modified human could be generated,” according to Yong Fan, a researcher at Guangzhou Medical University, who published the report.

His team collected more than 200 one-cell embryos and attempted to alter their DNA to install a gene that protects against HIV infection. The study, published two days ago in an obscure reproductive journal, was first spotted by reporters at Nature.

The scientists cautioned that they believe making actual genetically modified babies should be “strictly prohibited”—but perhaps only until the technology is perfected. “We believe that is necessary to keep developing and improving the technologies for precise genetic modification in humans,” Fan’s team said, since gene modification could “provide solutions for genetic diseases” and improve human health.

The Chinese scientists tried to make human embryos resistant to HIV by editing a gene called CCR5. It’s known that some people possess versions of this gene which makes them immune to the virus, which causes AIDS. The reason is they no longer make a protein that HIV needs to enter and hijack immune cells. More

5/4/2016

Scientists get first-ever glimpse of 'teenage' HIV-neutralizing antibody

Source: Science Daily

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and collaborating institutions have described the first-ever immature or "teenage" antibody found in a powerful class of immune molecules effective against HIV.

"This is actually the first example of how we can go back to the really early stage to see how this antibody lineage was born and can develop," said TSRI biologist Jiang Zhu, who served as co-senior author of the study.

The research was an international collaboration, also led by Yuxing Li of the University of Maryland, Yiming Shao of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), Peking University and Nankai University and Ian Wilson of TSRI.

The new knowledge of the evolution and key traits of anti-HIV antibodies could help researchers design a vaccine to prevent AIDS. More

5/4/2016

What new GSK patent policy means for the developing world

Source:Nature

Public-health experts have applauded drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for unveiling new patent policies that could make it easier for people in the world’s poorest countries to access drugs. But they say that other companies will need to follow suit if patients are to see significant improvements in access to medicines — particularly for much-needed cancer drugs.

After GSK's announcement last week, media attention focused on the London-based company's plan to stop filing for patents in 50 least developed and low-income countries (LDCs and LICs), such as Afghanistan and Zambia. That should make it easier for other manufacturers to supply generic versions of GSK’s drugs in those countries without fear of litigation, but other pharmaceutical firms — including Merck KGaA and Roche — had previously announced similar moves.

The announcement, made by GSK chief executive Andrew Witty, also revealed that for a further 35 lower-middle-income countries in which GSK will continue to file for patents, the company will grant licences to generics manufacturers who will then be able to make copycat drugs for domestic use and export. This, too, could encourage generics manufacturers to invest in providing cheaper medicines.

Witty also said that the firm would consider submitting patents on future cancer drugs it develops to the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) — a particularly exciting possibility, say public-health experts. The MPP negotiates large-scale licensing agreements between drug developers and multiple generics manufacturers — enabling greater access to medicines for a larger group of up to 127 developing countries. But it has so far focused on HIV/AIDS drugs; companies had previously resisted calls to work with generics manufacturers to open up their cancer-drug cabinets to patients in the developing world.

“Any one of these things would have been a big deal by itself. When you put them all together, it’s quite a strong statement,” says James Love, director of the non-profit Knowledge Ecology International in Washington DC. “But a lot more still needs to be done.”

For instance, although Africa might benefit particularly from the changes, around 75% of the world’s poor people live in ‘middle income' countries that will not gain as much from the new measures. Poor people in countries such as China, India and Brazil won’t benefit at all.