State Companies at Work on AIDS Remedies

About 20 California pharmaceutical companies are working on treatments for AIDS or on improving existing medicines for AIDS-related conditions, according to an annual survey by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a Washington, D.C.-based trade organization.

Some of the most promising efforts include:

* VaxGen Inc. in Brisbane, Calif., is working on a vaccine that prevents AIDS. Clinical trials are underway in Europe, Thailand and North America. The tests are expected to conclude at the end of 2002.

* Chiron Corp. in Emeryville, Calif., is in late-stage development of a drug that helps boost AIDS patients’ immune systems.

Southland companies developing products include Amgen Inc. in Thousand Oaks, Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. in San Diego and La Jolla-based Agouron Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc.

Nexell Therapeutics Inc., an Irvine biotechnology company, is working on a drug that may reduce or arrest the growth of skin lesions associated with AIDS, cancer and psoriasis, company spokesman Tad Heitmann said. Nexell has just completed early stage clinical trials on the medicine, known as hypericin. The drug would be at least five years away from the market, he said.

Nationally, 103 medicines are either in clinical trials or awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, up from 62 in 1990, the survey found. The figures “underline the continuing and relentless effort by the pharmaceutical industry to conquer AIDS,” said Alan F. Holmer, president of the Pharmaceutical Research group.

AIDS became the fifth-leading cause of death in the country in 1999 among people 25 to 44 years old, up from eighth in 1996. The disease had claimed the lives of 430,441 Americans by the end of 1999.

Marc Ballon covers the biomedical and biotechnology industry for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7439 and at marc.ballon@latimes.com.