Trials date announced for new AIDS drug

Uganda is to begin trials on Chemokine Receptor (CCR5), a new anti-AIDS drug that prevents the virus from spreading in infected people, Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals has announced. A local newspaper, New Vision, quoted an infectious diseases specialist from Pfizer, Dr Ann Kolokathis, as saying: "The CCR5 inhibits the virus from entering the cell receptor, so it protects [against] infection of other cells in HIV/AIDS patients and they can live a little longer." Kolokathis, who is part of a visiting delegation from the Pfizer Diflucan Partnership, were shown around the hospital in Jinja, about 80 km from the capital, Kampala. Pfizer currently provides Diflucan, an anti-fungal medication, to HIV-positive people with opportunistic infections like meningitis, free of charge at 987 sites in 25 countries hard-hit by the pandemic.