Subject: Drug to Fight Eye Infections Related to AIDS Is Tested
Date: Published: 5/7/92 (30 lines)
Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

    Technology Brief -- Gilead Sciences Inc.:
    Drug to Fight Eye Infections
    Related to AIDS Is Tested

    Gilead Sciences Inc., Foster City, Calif., said it has
 begun human-safety studies of a new class of compound against
 AIDS-related eye infections.
    The new drug, identified as GS 504, is a potential
 treatment for retinitis, or eye inflammation, caused by
 cytomegalovirus, or CMV. The condition frequently attacks
 people who have acquired immune deficieny syndrome, and can
 lead to blindness.  Currently, two drugs are used for CMV
 retinitis -- Syntex Corp. 's ganciclovir, and Astra
 Pharmaceuticals' foscarnet.
    GS 504 is the first of Gilead's new-generation therapies
 based upon small molecules that mimic nucleotides, which are
 the building blocks of DNA, the raw material of genes.  The
 Gilead compounds are modified chemically to block the
 production of disease-causing proteins.
    Gilead seeks to create a range of drugs that will target
 the culpable genes and proteins involved in viral infections,
 cardiovascular disease, cancer and inflammation.

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