Do Drug Makers Want AIDS VAccine?

[Lone Gunman]

Drug Makers Don't Want AIDS Vaccine, NIH Says

WASHINGTON -- Are drug companies waiting for the government to develop a vaccine to fight AIDS so they can profit from it later?

The federal chief of AIDS research thinks it's likely.

Dr. Edmund Tramont of the National Institutes of Health said he believes drug makers don't have an incentive to create a vaccine for HIV. And, as he put it, "They're dropping out like flies."

Consequently, Tramont said the government must spend more time focusing on the processes that drug companies ordinarily follow in developing new medicines and bringing them to market.

His comments are contained in a deposition in a recent employment lawsuit.

But the association representing the nation's drug companies sharply disagrees. A spokesman said those companies are "firmly committed to HIV-AIDS vaccine research and development" -- and there are currently 15 potential vaccines in development.

Nevertheless, the federal researcher predicted the government will eventually create the vaccine.