Immune Response Corp. Drops Suit Against UCSF for ‘Damaging Report’ on Experimental AIDS Vaccine Remune

The Carlsbad, Calif.-based biotechnology firm Immune Response Corp. yesterday dropped its multimillion dollar lawsuit against the University of California-San Francisco for reporting that its experimental AIDS vaccine Remune was ineffective, the AP/Nando Times reports. The company funded the university's research on the drug, but then attempted to block publication of a study in a November issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association that said Remune failed to reduce the amount of HIV in the bloodstream or slow the progression of disease. Immune Response sought $7 million from UCSF that it alleged was lost because of the "damaging report," but withdrew the demands yesterday without stated explanation. The firm also agreed to release data it originally withheld from the research team (Elias, AP/Nando Times, 9/11). The firm's demand for damages drew criticism as "an assault on the independence of academic researchers" who perform clinical trials funded by drug makers (San Francisco Chronicle, 9/11).