Has BYU prof found AIDS cure?

[xstatic]

Psisar sent me this link and I thought it was worth a group read and discussion:

www.sltrib.com/business/ci_3482712

points of discussion:

What if this was indeed the cure we've been searching for?

How long do you think we would have to test this possible cure before administering it to patients?

What if you, or someone you loved had AIDS and you found out about a cure, but it hadn't been fully tested yet, and you or your loved one was unable to access the drug?

EDIT -

this is another link that I saw the other day on a different forum:

LINK

[abrannan]

Second article doesn't seem to be appearing. My concern would be that it attacks the cell membrane, and what mechanism does it have to discern between a virus and a normal cell? It certainly seems to show promise as a general anti-viral (with much further reaching uses than HIV treatment).

What if this was indeed the cure we've been searching for?

Then the professor will receive a Nobel prize (despite the large number of other people working with him), the Pharmaceutical company will have a patent lock on the medication and exclusive rights for manufacture for at least 17 years, send it's stock skyrocketing (and giving it enough money to lobby heavily for extensions to the patent period (See: Music/Movie industry and copyrights)). The same company will get the lobby money right back from the federal governement in the form of Medicare prescription drug coverage payments. Some herbal supplement company will market a product with a similar sounding name to the brand name given to this drug and will make a lot of money selling something that has no benefit to those who use it. And sub-Saharan Africa will still not be able to afford it, or any fo the existing HIV controlling drugs.

Wow, I'm just a ray of sunshine today, aren't it?

How long do you think we would have to test this possible cure before administering it to patients?

Always a difficult choice, but once we understand it's interaction with the general cell membrane, we should be able to make a reasonable decision. The real question is: "What is an acceptable level of side effect for a 100% cure for a 100% fatal virus?" If you were HIV positive, and you were faced with that or taking this medication and thus increasing your risk of cancer 50% and heart disease 40% (for example), would you take the medication, or hold out for something better?

What if you, or someone you loved had AIDS and you found out about a cure, but it hadn't been fully tested yet, and you or your loved one was unable to access the drug?

I highly recommend everyone watch the movie Lorenzo's Oil. While not this situation directly, it does touch on a number of the issues. My question is "Would you support a "buyout" of the patent by the Federal Government, where the pharmaceutical company who holds the patent is paid some obscene sum (say, $100 billion) in compensation for the Government seizing the patent and pushing this medication directly to "generic" status?"