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Staff writer Sabine Vollmer can be reached at 829-8992 or sabine.vollmer@newsobserver.com.
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HIV/AIDS -- BY THE NUMBERS
39.5 million: Number of people worldwide with HIV infections.
1.2 million: Number of people in the United States with HIV/AIDS.
60 million: Number of people expected to be infected with HIV by 2015 if current rate continues.
40,000: Number of new HIV infections in the United States last year.
11,000: Number of people in North Carolina with an HIV infection in 2005.
8,192: Number of people in North Carolina with AIDS in 2005.
13 to 64: The age range of people who should be routinely screened for HIV infection, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
50: Percentage of the people diagnosed with AIDS in 2005 who were African-American.
12: Percentage of the U.S. population that is African-American.
69: Percentage of AIDS cases in 2005 diagnosed among African-Americans 13 to 19.
16: Percentage of U.S. teenagers, age 13 to 19, who are African-American.
HENRY J. KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION, UNAIDS, U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
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Rivals dominate nowThe drug makers that are grabbing HIV/AIDS patients, doctors and activists' attention these days are Gilead, the California biotech company that overtook GSK as the leading supplier of HIV/AIDS medicines last year; Merck and Pfizer, large drug makers with new classes of HIV/AIDS drugs in advanced testing; and Tibotec, a Belgian company with three HIV/AIDS drugs in development.Gilead's accomplishment relied on the acquisition of Triangle Pharmaceuticals. Truvada, Gilead's best-selling HIV/AIDS pill, contains the drug that Triangle Pharmaceuticals had in late-stage testing when it was acquired."We are absolutely determined to maintain the leadership in the HIV market; it's the most important thing to us," said Norbert Bischofsberger, head of research and development at Gilead.But Gilead, which derives about 80 percent of its revenue from the sale of HIV/AIDS drugs, is also branching out. In Durham, where it employs 117, Gilead is working on new hepatitis medicines. Research on HIV/AIDS is no longer carried out there.Now Trimeris is a question mark. The Morrisville company spent 10 years developing Fuzeon, which prevents the virus from entering a healthy cell. It was highly anticipated, but sales have disappointed. In recent months, there have been layoffs and a management shake-up. AlphaVax, too, went through a management shake-up, and work on its vaccine has stalled.Some of the most innovative HIV/AIDS research in the Triangle today is conducted at Argos Therapeutics, a Durham company testing a vaccine that promises to attack the smarter and more evolved virus, and at Duke, where researchers are working on a test that promises to help doctors prescribe the HIV/AIDS drug cocktail most suited to each patient.
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