For Immediate Release

Media Contact: Justin Burke - 213.201.1525

EMAIL:jburke@apla.org

FDA APPROVES NEW AIDS DRUG FUZEON – AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES WELCOMES NEW WEAPON TO TREAT HIV INFECTION

Los Angeles, March 14, 2003-- AIDS Project Los Angeles today hailed the approval of a new class of drugs called “fusion inhibitors” used to combat HIV/AIDS, but warned that the sky-high price of the drug combined with shrinking state and federal healthcare budgets may severely limit access to the new life-saving therapy.

A significant percentage of patients with chronic HIV have developed drug resistance to many existing medications. Because of its unique mode of action, FUZEON may be active against HIV that is resistant to currently available classes of anti-HIV drugs.

Trimeris, Inc. and Hoffman La Roche announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated approval of FUZEON, which brings to market a new class of drugs to treat HIV infection.

“We are delighted by the FDA’s action, and of course we are thrilled to have a new weapon in the fight against AIDS.” said APLA Director of Government Affairs, Daniel C. Montoya. “However, based on the pricing of this drug overseas, the U.S. price of FUZEON is anticipated to be in the $20,000 range per person per year. This cost is likely to overburden an already strained AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).”

Montoya said California’s current budget crisis now threatens the ability of the state’s ADAP program to provide low-income uninsured or underinsured people with HIV/AIDS with the medications they need. “Neither the federal government nor the state is willing or able to appropriate the money we need to make sure everyone who needs these drugs can get them.”

The directors of the six largest state ADAP programs, led by California, will be meeting with pharmaceutical manufacturers next week in Washington, D.C, to discuss the crisis in ADAP funding.

“I am optimistic about the outcome of these discussions,” Montoya said, “knowing that both the manufacturers and the government understand that only a partnership will alleviate this problem and ensure that people who need these drugs can get them.”

Unlike all currently approved drugs, FUZEON blocks the AIDS virus from entering the human immune cell, preventing HIV replication that can devastate the immune systems of HIV infected individuals.

AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), which this year marks 20 years of prevention, advocacy and service, provides direct services to more than 10,000 men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles County. Services include prevention education, food banks, professional dental care, housing assistance, mental health counseling, women’s services and case management. APLA is a leader in the provision of bilingual HIV treatment information, in print and on the Internet, and advocates for effective AIDS-related policies and legislation on the local, state and federal level. For more information, please visit www.apla.org.

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