Announcements

** Oral Ganciclovir CMV Prophylaxis Study Recruiting

A major national study is testing an oral form of the anti- CMV
drug ganciclovir to see if it can prevent CMV disease in patients who do
not have it already. This trial is for persons with AIDS and with T-
helper counts under 100 -- or persons without AIDS and T-helper counts
under 50. There are various other entry criteria. This study is
sponsored by Syntex Inc. of Palo Alto, California.

Trial sites are in Atlanta, Berkeley (CA), Boston, Chicago, Dallas,
Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles (2 sites), New York (3 sites),
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco (3 sites), and
Washington, D. C.

For more information about this trial, or to find the phone number
of a site in one of the above cities, call the AIDS Clinical Trials
Information Service, 800/TRIALS-A, or see the new edition of the
AIDS/HIV Treatment Directory (published by AmFAR, the American
Foundation for AIDS Research), which is expected to be distributed near
the end of January. As we go to press, this trial is not yet in the
TRIALS-A database, but that office can give contact phone numbers for
the sites from a draft copy of the AmFAR directory.

Note: Do not confuse this prophylaxis trial with a separate trial
of oral ganciclovirf vs. IV ganciclovir for maintenance therapy for
persons who have already developed CMV disease. This trial, at 22 sites
throughout the U. S., is about half enrolled, and is recruiting
volunteers. For more information about it, call 800/TRIALS-A.

** New York: Hypericin Trial Recruiting, P24 No Longer Needed

The ongoing trial of the antiviral hypericin at New York University
has been changed to compare oral vs. intravenous doses of the drug;
previously it only tested intravenous administration. Volunteers no
longer need to be p24 positive -- an inclusion criterion which had been
a problem in New York, since the p24 antigen test is not approved for
medical practice under New York's rules, and therefore many patients in
that state do not know whether they are p24 positive or not.

For more information about this trial, call New York University at
212/263-6565. Or call the AIDS Clinical Trials Information Service,
800/TRIALS-A.

Note: Hypericin remains an important experimental treatment; in
laboratory tests, it has activity against HIV, CMV, and certain other
viruses. Results of the current trial have suggested that it may need to
be administered at least daily, probably in oral form, to maintain
antiviral blood levels, since intravenous administration causes high
peak concentrations which may cause dose-limiting side effects, while
leaving blood levels too low for antiviral activity at other times. The
current trial, using low doses to determine how well the drug is
absorbed when given orally, will provide data needed to design a later
trial to test whether oral dosing can be effective.

** San Francisco, Salt Lake City: Acyclovir-Resistant Herpes

Treatment Trial

Persons with AIDS and one or more lesions of acyclovir- resistant
herpes may be eligible for a trial of SP-303T, a drug being developed by
Shaman Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in San Carlos, California, a company which
develops drugs from rainforest plants. SP-303T is derived from a plant
long used for treating herpes in South America; it has been found to be
active against acyclovir-resistant herpes in laboratory tests. The drug
is applied topically; the first volunteers were treated in January 1993.

For more information about this study, call Julie Calo at San
Francisco General Hospital, 415/476-9296 ext. 84607; or call Carol
Bujwit at the University of Utah School of Medicine, 801/581-4878.

** Tat Inhibitor Support Group Forming -- Baltimore, Boston,
Cleveland, San Diego

A support group for persons in the current tat inhibitor trial (now
taking place in the four cities above) is being formed. Persons in this
trial can call Giacomo Palazzolo in Boston at 617/524-7780, between 9:00
a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please note that this is Giacomo's
home phone and not a hotline or general information number. He cannot
handle a great many calls, but wants to provide a communication forum
for persons who are taking the drug.

The current tat trial is now fully enrolled, and not open to new
patients.

** San Francisco: Conference on Speech, Hearing, and Vision
Loss, February 26

"HIV-Related Speech, Hearing, and Vision Loss: A Conference for
Health Care Providers, Caregivers, and People with HIV," will be held
February 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the University of California,
Laurel Heights Auditorium, 3333 California Street, San Francisco.
Persons are asked to register by February 12. Fees (including lunch) are
$40 physician, $25 other professionals, $15 persons with HIV and all
others, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. This
conference is sponsored by several AIDS, vision, and hearing
organizations.

For more information, call Kathy Abrahamson at 415/431-1481.

** San Francisco: "Caring for HIV Naturally" Forum

The Traditional, Holistic, and Alternative Treatment Committee of
ACT UP/San Francisco is sponsoring a four-part forum on alternative
treatments, on four Saturdays between January 30 and March 13.

The first session, "Nutrition and Exercise," includes four
speakers: holistic physician Jon Kaiser, M.D., on diet and food
supplements; Parris Kidd, Ph.D., author of Living with the AIDS Virus --
A Strategy for Long-Term Survival, on anti- oxidants and the treatment
of HIV; David Merriweather, assistant to Jonathan Wright, M.D. (who
received widespread publicity after an FDA raid on Dr. Wright's clinic
in Kent, Washington) on issues of digestion and assimilation; and Tom
Riccobuono, on exercise for people with HIV. This session will take
place Saturday, January 30, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., in the Davies Medical
Center, Castro Street and Duboce Avenue, in the Gazebo room.

Later sessions are: Body-Mind-Spirituality, Feb. 13; Cross-
Cultural Therapies, February 27; and Long-Term Survivors, March 13.

For more information, or to check locations of later sessions, call
ACT UP/San Francisco's information hotline at 415/621-0291.

** AIDS Czar Issue: Report to President or Report to HHS?

ACT UP/New York has begun a letter writing campaign after hearing
reports that the Donna Shalala, the new Secretary of Health and Human
Services (HHS) wants the new "AIDS czar" promised by Clinton to report
to her, instead of directly to the President. ACT UP believes that the
decision may be made soon. No "AIDS czar" has been appointed yet.

There has been widespread consensus that such a position sould
report directly to the President -- one reason being that AIDS issues
involve many departments, not only HHS. "The rationale for the position
requires the immediate attention and direct access to the President,
with special powers to coordinate, across all governmental agencies and
branches, the federal government's response to AIDS. It also requires
the full commitment of the President to use his office as a from ACT
UP/New York letter to President-Elect Clinton).

As this issue went to press, United for AIDS Action also joined the
effort to have an AIDS coordinator in the White House.

For more information on this issue and on how you can help, call
ACT UP/New York, 212/564-AIDS, or Eric Sawyer, 212/864- 5672.