A Tiny Biotech Startup Wages War Against AIDS

One of the most promising attacks on the dread disease was produced far from the meccas of biotechnology The message transmitted from the fourth International Conference on AIDS in Stockholm this June was bleak. Seven thousand of the world’s leading scientists had gathered to hear more than 3,100 presentations and to discuss what has been learned about the virus. “Not enough” was the answer. An estimated five million to 10 million people have been infected with the HIV virus,

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The message transmitted from the fourth International Conference on AIDS in Stockholm this June was bleak. Seven thousand of the world’s leading scientists had gathered to hear more than 3,100 presentations and to discuss what has been learned about the virus. “Not enough” was the answer. An estimated five million to 10 million people have been infected with the HIV virus, one million of these United States citizens. And, though scientific knowledge and understanding of the virus is expanding, little progress has been made over the past year toward a vaccine or effective treatment. But amidst the pessimism and gloom, a small poster display struck a rare, optimistic note. It showed clinical test results of a proposed therapeutic that appears to be effective in slowing the ravages of the wasting disease. Each day, more than a dozen clerks rustle through stacks of patient records as they photocopy, compile, and review ...

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