X-Message-Number: 7555 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 18:01:29 MST From: "Richard Schroeppel" <> Subject: Another Visser Triumph! (from nando.net) S. AFRICA HALTS HUMAN TRIALS OF PURPORTED AIDS DRUG Copyright 1997 Nando.net and The Associated Press JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Jan 24, 1997 3:24 p.m. EST) -- Three scientists who stunned medical experts this week by announcing development of a drug that kills the AIDS virus were ordered Friday to halt testing on humans until their work has been evaluated. The Medicines Control Council, a government panel that registers drugs, said human testing would be stopped until it can review research on the drug, called Virodene P058. The council set a Feb. 5 deadline for its review. Researchers from the University of Pretoria announced development of Virodene on Wednesday when they went before South Africa's Cabinet to ask for $800,000 to continue their work. They said they had tested the drug on about a dozen people who were infected with HIV or had full-blown AIDS -- and claimed that it had reversed the effects of AIDS in at least one person. Scientists and AIDS groups reacted with shock and skepticism. They denounced the trio for not following standard research practices, such as subjecting their work to peer review, and also for conducting human trials apparently without approval. Under standard procedures, the researchers should have had permission from either the medicines council or the university's ethics committee before experimenting on humans. Neither group has acknowledged giving its permission, although no one has directly accused the scientists of malpractice or unethical behavior. The council's statement announcing the suspension of testing on Friday did not make any specific accusations against the three: researcher Olga Visser and cardiothoracic surgeons Dirk du Plessis and Callie Landauer. The three are hardly known in the AIDS research community, although Visser and du Plessis made news in 1995 for successfully restarting a rat's heart after it had been frozen. It was considered a breakthrough in frozen tissue research, a field know as cryo-preservancy. Visser said she discovered the anti-viral properties of Virodene while conducting cryo-preservancy experiments. The Institute of Virology, a state- and privately funded agency that studies viruses, expressed doubt Friday that Virodene reverses AIDS. "I would say this is just one of the many so-called cures that various people come up with every now and again," institute chief Barry Schoub said. "It should certainly not have been tested on patients." The Medical Research Council, a state-funded agency that supports university research, also has called for scientific evaluation of the claims before the government approves further research money for Virodene. Dr. Walter Prozesky, head of the research council, said it was surprising the results were not published even as a preliminary report in a medical or scientific journal, or presented at international AIDS conferences held in Canada last summer or in Washington this week. The University of Pretoria said Thursday that it supported the team's research, but would investigate why it deviated from established practices. It did not explain what deviations occurred. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=7555