Fondation Merieux of Lyon, France,  is donating to the centre necessary equipment, resources and training to monitor HIV positive patients on anti-HIV drug therapy in developing countries.  Upon request from the centre, the Fondation Merieux has donated the NucliSens Molecular testing system.  The emerging NucliSens technology will allow the centre to evaluate the health of HIV-positive patients in remote locations,  from rural B.C. to HIV/AIDS-ravaged African countries. Overcoming the time and shipping constraints of conventional blood-in-a-test-tube technology, DBS (dried blood spot) provides the ability to analyze plasma smeared on special cards that are extremely travel-friendly.  The centre will validate the NucliSens technology for use on DBS samples arriving from remote areas where shipping conditions are not the most ideal.

The centre will use the leading technology to monitor patient care in a new ongoing study of 500 individuals on anti-HIV drug therapy in Uganda, says Dr. Richard Harrigan, director of the centre’s research laboratories.  Batches of DBS cards from HIV-positive individuals half-way around the world will be analyzed at the centre’s downtown Vancouver laboratory.

“This partnership will lead to better health outcomes for patients worldwide,” says Harrigan. “Through cost-effective means, doctors in developing countries will now be able to know if  patients are not adhering to their drug regimen, whether they have built up resistance to the drugs and, simply, if they are getting better or worse.”

It’s expected the centre will soon use the same DBS technology in other parts of the world, as part of its unique partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF).  The centre’s partnership with MSF, along with established collaborations with academic groups in Argentina, Mexico and Hong Kong, played a key role in the Fondation selecting the B.C. Centre for Excellence of HIV/AIDS to work with.

“The Fondation expressed a strong desire to partner with us because of our increasing work around the world and reputation. As a result, our facility will become an international reference centre for anti-HIV drug testing, as well as an evaluator of DBS technology,” says Harrigan. 

In recognition of its innovative work in HIV/AIDS treatment and research, the Fondation on Nov. 22 bestowed upon the centre its very first Prix Jean Merieux, an award to recognize international actions of excellence in the field of infectious diseases.

While DBS is not new, its application to HIV/AIDS treatment is (the centre will play a role in validating bioMerieux’s DBS technology – no other company has technology commercially available as of yet). Fresh plasma in a test tube is considered the “gold standard” for evaluating an HIV-positive patient’s condition. However, ideal methods are impractical for evaluating patients in remote locations, including those living in rural B.C.

“The limitation with plasma is it needs to be processed within six hours of collection. You then have to spin the blood to extract the plasma, freeze it and send it. Those logistics make it very challenging,” says Harrigan. “B.C. has situations that are almost parallel with developing world’s. There are remote locations, particularly populations-at-risk in Northern B.C., which have been extremely difficult to monitor treatment consistently where this new technology will help.”

The ability to monitor anti-HIV drug treatment is essential to improving the lives of HIV individuals. in developing countries. However, much work remains to be done.

“Currently, there is no second-line treatment, or drug rescue, widely available in most African countries. We may now be able to determine the patient is failing their first-line of treatment, but there may be nothing available to the physician as an alternative. For comprehensive management of the disease, you need a second line of treatment,” says Harrigan.

The Fondation partnership will benefit the centre’s agreement with MSF. Announced Dec. 1, 2003,  the agreement represented the international medical relief organization’s first North American collaboration in the field of HIV/AIDS. The centre will provide expertise and support in the areas of developing practical, cost-effective laboratory tests for monitoring HIV disease and treatment response; clinical and epidemiological surveillance; and education and training. In the formal announcement, David Morley, executive director of MSF-Canada, described the centre as among the most advanced and integrated centres of HIV treatment and research in the world.

Founded in 1992 by St. Paul’s Hospital and the provincial Ministry of Health, the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is a key provincial resource seeking to improve the health of people with HIV through the development, ongoing monitoring and dissemination of comprehensive investigative and treatment programs for HIV and related diseases.  St. Paul’s Hospital is one of six health care facilities operated by Providence Health Care, Canada’s largest faith-based health care organization.

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For information or interview requests, please contact Glen Edwards, media relations, 604.623.3007.

About Mérieux Foundation

The Mérieux Foundation is a non-profit organization that was accorded charity status in 1976. It’s history goes back to 1897 when Dr. Marcel Merieux worked with Louis Pasteur to develop vaccines.  The mission of this International Foundation is  to make a valuable and non-partial contribution to research, training and the dissemination of information in the domains of biology, immunology, epidemiology, vaccinology and both individual and collective preventive medicine.. Its activities are funded from an initial endowment and donations from the Mérieux family, private gifts and business sponsorship (Aventis Pasteur, European Commission, bioMérieux, Gates Foundation and many other international partners.) The activities of the Fondation Merieux are focused on Scientific Symposia where scientists from world class institutions collaborate and challenge each other’s work . Field projects focused in Infectious Diseases in Haiti and Cambodia as well upcoming plans in China, India and Brazil.  Most recently, The Fondation Merieux has built a Centre of Excellence in Infectious Diseases testing which will bring international accreditation standards to Mali and surrounding African Countries.


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