The politics of AIDS has slowed down the development of new therapies, according to this report in The Wall Street Journal. Protests have shuttered trials in Asia and Africa and drug developers have been more focused on finding new treatments instead of therapies that can prevent AIDS entirely. Some developers find the regulatory approval process for treatments easier and others haven't wanted to spur arguments that a preventive therapy could encourage unsafe sex. Meanwhile, Gilead's tenofovir (sold as Viread) is seen as the most likely hope for a therapy that at least slows the rate of transmission.
- here's The Wall Street Journal report on AIDS (sub. req.)