HIV-infected H9 T-cellWIKIMEDIA, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHSpanish HIV/AIDS researcher Vicente Soriano, of Hospital Carlos III in Madrid, is facing a steep fine after violating regulations by conducting a clinical trial involving a new HIV drug without getting the appropriate approvals from Spain’s Agency for Medicines and Health Products. A court of appeals levied the €210,000 ($283,689) fine against Soriano last month (January 14), but overturned a €6,000 ($8,105) fine issued to the researcher for obstructing the initial 2010 investigation into his apparent misdeeds.
Soriano was also charged with failing to obtain proper insurance for the trial and for informing trial participants that he had secured the hospital’s ethical clearance when he had in fact not done so. Soriano is appealing the fines.
The Phase 4 clinical trial started in 2009, when Soriano registered it on www.clinicaltrials.gov. The researchers’ aim was to determine if HIV patients with undetectable levels of the virus in their blood could swap out protease inhibitors with a new integrase inhibitor called raltegravir to improve their outcomes and suffer fewer side effects. More than 300 subjects enrolled in the trial, and Soriano and several coauthors published a 2010 HIV Clinical Trials paper reporting that raltegravir sustained viral suppression in most of the subjects who were ...
