Thai HIV Vaccine Hype Misrepresents Data; AHF Calls for Independent Review of
AIDS Vaccine Effort

By: AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Los Angeles, CA - October 12, 2009

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare
provider in the US which now provides treatment and services for more than
110,000 individuals in 21 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin
America/Caribbean and Asia, expressed frustration and disappointment at the news
that data that seriously undermine a widely reported Thai HIV vaccine trial were
not released publicly when other, more favorable data from the vaccine trial
were publicly reported late last month.

The release of only partial—and favorable—data, which showed initial efficacy in
approximately one third of the Thai vaccine trial participants, led to worldwide
favorable publicity for the thought-to-be-promising vaccine effort, which was
conducted by researchers from the US Army and Thailand.

According to the Wall Street Journal (Oct. 10-11, 2009) a second heretofore
suppressed or previously unreleased analysis of data from the same Thai vaccine
trial suggested that the, "modest protection highlighted by researchers might be
a statistical fluke." The Journal reported that the additional data were
available to the US and Thai researchers on September 24th when they announced
the trial results to worldwide acclaim, but they chose not to release them.

WSJ also noted, "The incomplete disclosure raises the question of whether the
Army, the Thai government and the U.S. National Institutes of Health—which
helped fund the study—rushed to give a positive spin to what may turn out to be
another inconclusive AIDS-vaccine effort."

"Following the repeated failures in AIDS vaccine research over the years, the
premature and partial reporting of select—and favorable—vaccine trial data here
underscores an inherent and glaring conflict of interest: Researchers working on
NIH-funded vaccine trials may be tempted to try to show successful outcomes
regardless of what the data may actually show in order to maintain or increase
NIH funding for continuing research," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS
Healthcare Foundation.

"What is needed is rigorous review and evaluation of such vaccine trial data by
an independent outside body. For NIH-funded scientists or US government
researchers to also evaluate and discuss the significance of their own research
is akin to allowing students to grade their own papers.

Data can be cherry-picked; more so, if there is an incentive for future or
increased government research funding based on today's thought-to-be `promising'
outcomes."

Press contacts:

Ged Kenslea
Communications Director, AHF
Tel: (323) 860-5225 (323) 860-5225
Fax: (323) 468-0400
ged.kenslea@...

Lori Yeghiayan
Associate Director of Communications, AHF
Tel: (323) 860-5227
Fax: (323) 468-0400
lori.yeghiayan@...

http://www.aidshealth.org/news/press-releases/thai-hiv-vaccine-hype.html