[Letter to Anne Goodwin from Jon Cohen]

TO: ANNE GOODWIN
FROM: JON COHEN
February 20, 1992
Dear Ms. Goodwin,
AIDS activists have shown little interest in HIV vaccines used as
therapeutics. Until now.
Next Tuesday, February 25th, Gay Men's Health Crisis and the
Community Research Initiative on AIDS are sponsoring a
''community forum'' in Manhattan during which representatives
from commercial companies, the U.S. Army, and the NIH will
discuss HIV vaccine therapy. All of the speakers are--or will
soon begin--testing HIV vaccines in HIV-infected people. It is
the first public gathering of potential patients with these
researchers. In fact, there have been very few scientific
qatherings at which HIV vaccine therapy has been discussed as a
separate topic. (By my count there have been three; as I was one
of the only reporters at each meeting, there has been next to no
press about the subject aside from my Science articles.)
I'd like to do a story for NPR about the meeting and the state of
HIV vaccine therapy in general. I'd round out the story with an
interview of someone from Immune Response Corporation, the
company developing and testing Salk's HIV vaccine. Though IRC
declined to attend the meeting--they didn't want the attention--I
suspect someone would speak to me about their human trials. I
could also interview the other leading proponent of HIV vaccine
therapy, France's controversial Daniel Zaqury. Though he, too, is
press shy, I have a long-standing relationship with him. And I
could fold in an interview with a patient receiving one of these
vaccines and a short history of vaccine therapy from Col. Donald
Burke, the head of the Army's AIDS program who, I believe, has
done more historical research about the subject than any living
person. (Note that he is not the Army representative speakinq at
the meeting.)
I'm sending along the invitations I received to the meeting (one
of which incorrectly lists Immune Response as a participant) and
one of my Science articles, which I hope will help explain what
HIV vaccine therapy is supposed to do.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
5571095.0199.054
Jon