Genentech Raises AIDS Research Funds: South San...

Genentech Raises AIDS Research Funds: South San Francisco-based Genentech Inc. said it raised $72.5 million through a private partnership to fund future research, development and clinical trials of two possible AIDS drugs. In test tube experiments, one of the drugs, RCD4, acted as a decoy or molecular “sponge,” protecting cells from infection with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. The other drug, RCD4-IGG, is a second-generation version that links CD4 to a human antibody, making it longer-lived in the bloodstream.