The Tuberculosis Vaccines Pipeline: A New Path to the Same Destination?
Pipeline • 2015July 2015 By Mike Frick Call it a paradigm shift, a pivot, or a turn – tuberculosis (TB) vaccine research and development (R&D) is entering a period of basic science. After years of focusing on phase II clinical trials, some of the field’s largest players are now redirecting attention and resources to the beginning of…
The Tuberculosis Diagnostics Pipeline
Pipeline • 2015July 2015 By Mark Harrington That things just go on like this is the catastrophe. —Walter Benjamin1 Introduction Because of the lack of effective, accessible point-of-care (POC) tests for all forms of tuberculosis (TB), 1.5 million people die of this treatable, usually curable disease each year. Annually, 3 million, or one-third of all, TB cases…
The Tuberculosis Treatment Pipeline: Moving Beyond “Making the Most of What We’ve Got”
Pipeline • 2015July 2015 By Erica Lessem For decades, those living with tuberculosis (TB) and their providers have operated in conditions of scarcity and neglect: inadequate funding for programs and research, aging infrastructure and outdated technologies, limited scientific understanding, knowledge gaps on existing treatments, low public attention, and absent political will. The limited response to TB born…
New Drugs, New Strategies: Conquering Hepatitis C with Direct-Acting Antivirals
Pipeline • 2015July 2015 By Tracy Swan Hepatitis C has to be one of the most grossly miscalculated diseases by governments on the planet. —Michel Kazatchkine, UN secretary general’s special envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and commissioner, Global Commission on Drug Policy The evolution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment has been swift,…
Fit For Purpose: Antiretroviral Treatment Optimization
Pipeline • 2015July 2015 By Polly Clayden The most striking news since the 2014 Pipeline Report is from the START (Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment) study.1 We now have evidence from a large, randomized, controlled trial to show that CD4 count is no longer a barrier to starting antiretroviral treatment (ART). START results mean that guidelines worldwide…
The Antiretroviral Pipeline
Pipeline • 2015July 2015 By Simon Collins and Tim Horn INTRODUCTION As a global community of people living with HIV, our needs from the antiretroviral (ARV) pipeline have changed considerably over the last 20 years. Antiretroviral treatment (ART), particularly for people starting treatment, is increasingly effective, safe, and easier to take. ART now involves fewer pills and doses,…
The 21st Century Cures Act’s “Pathway to Crisis” in Drug Safety
TAGline • 2015Federal legislation promises a substantial increase in NIH funding—at the expense of a significantly weakened FDA By Kenyon Farrow For more than a year, Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Fred Upton (R-MI) of the House Energy and Commerce Committee hosted congressional hearings and nationwide town hall meetings to gather momentum for a bill they introduced…
Governor Cuomo’s Plan to End AIDS Will Save Lives and Money
Statement / Press • 2015TAG & Housing Works Report Shows Plan To End AIDS By 2020 Will Translate Into $4.5 Billion In Net Medicaid Savings For NY State.
Ending the HIV Epidemic (ETE) in New York State
TAGline • 2015Not only is it the right thing to do for the health of New Yorkers, but a new analysis demonstrates that it is also cost-effective By Ginny Shubert, Housing Works; and Mark Harrington In June 2014, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made history by committing New York State to end AIDS as an epidemic by the year…
Activist Strategies for Increasing Access to HCV Treatment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Publication • 2015Liver disease from hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the leading causes of death around the world. At least 185 million people have been infected and almost 500,000 people die from it each year. The hope for eradicating HCV has recently gained new momentum: effective treatments reaching a 100 percent cure rate in clinical trials are now available.