AIDS Research at the NIH: A Critical Review

congenic strains) for the new intramural project on autoimmunity and AIDS (27a);
28. $300,000 to fund four new FTEs for intramural research on the target ligands for NK and LAK
effectors on tumor and virus-infected cells;
29. $500,000 for I contract to screen IL-6 inhibitors for the treatment of AIDS lymphoma;
30. $500,000 for 1 contract for clinical and preclinical data management;
31. $500,000 for 2 contracts to optimize biological activity of natural product lead compounds;
32. $300,000 for a commercial chemistry database contract;
33. $500,000 for 1 contract for collection of deep-water marine organisms from the Indo-Pacific for
screening for potential activity against HIV;
34. $400,000 for 2 contracts to optimize synthesis of complex agents with up to 1520 reaction steps;
35. $300,000 to fund one new contract to produce soft gelatin capsules for the administration of antiAIDS agents;
NCI has 306 AIDS FTEs in FY 1992. For 1993, it wanted to add 42, for a total of 348 AIDS FTEs.
Recommendations and comments. The NCI has been vital to NIH's AIDS effort ever since 1981. The
Developmental Therapeutics Program has brought us all three of the currently approved antiretroviral
therapies, AZT, ddl and ddC. Dr. Gallo, despite his recent troubles, has been instrumental in helping to
elucidate the mechanisms leading to Kaposi's sarcoma and the development of potential angiogenesis
inhibitors for its treatment. Other intramural labs have been at the forefront of basic immunological
research (e.g. Laboratory of Molecular Immunoregulation) and the immunology of HIV infection (e.g.
Experimental Immunology Branch). The NCI's AIDS Lymphoma Network filled a national void on the study
of the etiology and pathogenesis of these malignancies in HIV infection, when NIAID refused to take the
lead in this area. Recommendations for the future for NCI's AIDS program include:
* Closer and formal collaboration between the NCI's AIDS Lymphoma Network and the Oncology
Committee of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, NIAID.
* The establishment of a joint NCI-NIAID task force on malignancies in HIV infection to coordinate
clinical and basic oncological research.
* The establishment of a joint NCI-NIAID biological repository for serum, tissue, and other biological
materials from people with HIV to allow the study of epidemiological and biological correlates of
AIDS-related oncogenesis.
* NCI's $3.5 million requested for cervical cancer studies in women with HIV and cut by President
Bush should be restored.
* Closer collaboration between NCI's Eastern Cooperative and Southwest Cooperative Oncology
Groups and the Oncology Committee, ACTG, NIAID.
* The establishment of a formal collaborative arrangement between the Immunology Committee,
ACTG, NIAID, and NCI's Biological Response Modifiers Program, especially the Laboratories of
Molecular Immunoregulation and Experimental Immunology.
* Full funding for NCI's proposed basic and preclinical program on AIDS and autoimmunity.
* Full funding for NCI's FY 1993 Wish List.
* Since NCI has the expertise and experience in the therapeutic use of biological response modifiers
and strong basic and clinical immunology and drug discovery programs, it should establish a new

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