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WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an unusually candid admission, the federal chief of AIDS research says he believes drug companies don't have an incentive to create a vaccine for the HIV and are likely to wait to profit from it after the government develops one.

That means the government has had to spend more time focusing on the processes that drug companies ordinarily follow in developing new medicines and bringing them to market.

"We had to spend some time and energy paying attention to those aspects of development because the private side isn't picking it up," Dr. Edmund Tramont testified in a deposition in a recent employment lawsuit obtained by The Associated Press.

Tramont is head of the AIDS research division of the National Institutes of Health, and he predicted in his testimony that the government will eventually create a vaccine. He testified in July in the whistleblower case of Dr. Jonathan Fishbein.

"If we look at the vaccine, HIV vaccine, we're going to have an HIV vaccine. It's not going to be made by a company," Tramont said. "They're dropping out like flies because there's no real incentive for them to do it. We have to do it."

"They will eventually -- if it works, they won't have to make that big investment. And they can make it and sell it and make a profit," he said.
Struggles for vaccines

An official of the group representing the country's major drug companies took sharp exception to Tramont's comments.

"That is simply not true. America's pharmaceutical research companies are firmly committed to HIV/AIDS vaccine research and development with 15 potential vaccines in development today," said Ken Johnson, senior vice president of PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

"Vaccine research is crucial to controlling the AIDS pandemic and our companies are well aware of the need to succeed in this vital area of science," Johnson said.

In an e-mail response for comment, Tramont said the HIV vaccine mirrors the history of other vaccines. "It is not just a HIV vaccine - it's all vaccines - that is why there was/is a shortage of flu vaccines," Tramont wrote.

The quest for an AIDS vaccine has been one of science's biggest disappointments despite billions of dollars and years of research. Part of the dilemma is that such a vaccine must work through the very immune system that AIDS compromises.

The failure in the last couple years of one of the more promising vaccine candidates has bred some frustration.
Hope delayed

The United Nations' top HIV/AIDS official acknowledged earlier this year at a conference that it was no longer realistic to hope that the world will meet its goal of halting and reversing the spread of the pandemic by 2015. A British delegate to that conference predicted it might take 20 years before such a vaccine is created.

The International AIDS Vaccines Initiative, a not-for-profit group that is pushing for an AIDS vaccine, said there are more than 30 vaccine candidates being tested mostly on a small scale in 19 counties, but it acknowledges many are pursuing a similar theory of science that may prove futile.

"If the hypothesis is proven incorrect, the pipeline of candidates now in trials will be rendered mostly irrelevant. Strong alternative hypotheses have been largely neglected," the group said.

IAVI estimates total annual spending on an AIDS vaccine is $682 million.

"This represents less than 1% of total spending on all health product development," IAVI said. "Private sector efforts amount to just $100 million annually. This is mainly due to the lack of incentives for the private sector to invest in an AIDS vaccine -- the science is difficult, and the developing countries that need a vaccine most are least able to pay."

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

This brings up a point which many have said regarding finding cures for diseases in general. There is no money in the cure (not significant enough for share holders), but there is money in the treatment of the disease. (treatment is a temporary fix as it only relieves the symptoms but they eventually return). Pharmacutical companies are in the business of making money. The cure might make them 100 million but treatment will make them billions.

a cure no money? lol bullshit.. HIV is a virus that shit mutates, just look at the cold medcine aisle.. i trully think they just gave up and waiting for the persons who created the disease to through them a bone

You know it. I'm sure a cure is out there. I hear Magic goes to Cuba for his medicine and he sure looking good. They can't even detect it in him

yeah the disease goes into remission (sp) but when you stop treatment comes back with a revenge.. sometimes a different mutated strain

Here is a basic analogy for you. If you are a car manufacturer and you had a design for a car that would run forever, would you put it into production?

Funny you say that because about 10 years back some guy made this part for the car engine that would give about 100 miles to the gallons and Hess corp bought him out .

I wonder when that design is going to be put into a production vehicle

yea but they have all but eradicated some viruses...smallpox for one....and for a time that was pretty damn deadly.

after we stop using gas for cars

most plagues of the world.. just died out no real cure..
bateria and fungi are even worse, pencillim was pure luck.. TB is mutating in the jail cells of russia.. and bird flu is about to be able to spread from man to man..

positive outlook
no pun intended

so you're saying, the vaccine for smallpox doesn't exist...
and that if someone catches smallpox they will die 'cause it's untreatable?

nope i am saying when a virus mutates sometimes vaccines are useless against them.. so it is like a game of tag and chain

true, but I suppose it will depend on the speed of mutation.
the cold virus like u said mutates too fast to develop a vaccine,
but with the flu virus, while it's mutable, they're able to create a vaccine for it (if even once a year).

so, like you said, sometimes it's the case, sometimes not.
i'm not sure if the hiv virus is mutating anywhere near as rapidly as the cold virus or even the flu virus that (if a vaccine was ever found) they wouldn't be able to keep up with it. ultimately time will tell.