Sandoz axes cyclosporine research
Gilden, D.
Gmhc Treatment Issues the Gay Men's Health Crisis Newsletter of Experimental Aids Therapies 9(12): 7
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 1077-1824 PMID: 11362999 Document Number: 441856
The Swiss pharmaceutical company, Sandoz, canceled research on the compound NIM 811, even though it has been discovered to inhibit HIV three times more potently than their drug cyclosporine. Although NIM 811 is a 1,700-fold weaker immunosuppressant, it seems preferable to cyclosporine on the basis of safety and efficacy for HIV treatment. Sandoz claims they cannot make sufficient quantities of the molecule for human trials. Sandoz may have an underlying business strategy for stopping the research; their main interest is bone marrow and organ transplants, not infectious diseases. Sandoz will make NIM 811 available to outside researchers. There is some question of whether Sandoz will license the drug if it is impossible to mass produce.