AMPLIGEN

The biggest buzz in the CFIDS community for the last few years has been the promising drug called AMPLIGEN. Ampligen is produced by HemispheRX and is generally referred to as an immune modulator with anti-viral properties. Ampligen is currently undergoing a small open-label clinical trial in The United States. It has been available in Belgium and currently Canada is doing studies with many Americans with CFIDS going there to obtain the drug. In the United States, those who have qualified for the Ampligen trial program due so on a cost-recovery basis, meaning they must pay for the drug and doctors fees. The drug alone may cost approximately $7,000 for the intravenus infusions. Right now, obtaining Ampligen is almost imposssible.

Several Americans who have traveled to Canada at considerable expense have reported to this site that they have increased cognitive ability and even feel better than they have in years. While this is very preliminary and non-scientific, it does hold out hope. However, Ampligen has also had some bad side effects and results with other CFIDS patients. As always, results will differ from patient to patient and since Ampligen is not yet approved as a treatment for CFIDS, long term effects and the validity of Ampligen as a treatment for CFIDS is currently unknown.

While some patients have reported feeling more alive and more alert, some physicians aren't totally sold on Ampligen. Many CFIDS patients are desperate and willing to sacrifice whatever necessary to take a drug that may help them. The FDA has not yet approved Ampligen but that isn't stopping the hundreds if not thousands of Americans from scrambling to try to obtain the drug. It has been reported that 50-80% of the patients who have taken Ampligen have improved, some significantly. Ampligen has also been tried in AIDS and Cancer studies. One difficulty in Ampligen trials has been measuring the results, without a marker or a laboratory test that measures how sick a patient is. HemispheRX Biopharma CEO William A. Carter and an FDA medical officer said they are exploring ways to more accurately measure the effect of Ampligen in CFIDS patients.

The Belgian Ampligen study is still ongoing. It began in May 1993 and has had a reported "80% recovery rate." The typical patient in the study had been bedridden for between three and seven years prior to beginning the six-month treatment program. Top CFIDS researchers dispute the results because the patients chosen for ths study had a greater chance of getting better. Some former Ampligen patients are so bitter about their experiences they have absolutely nothing positive to say about the drug or company that makes it.

For more information about Ampligen, contact HemispheRX Biopharma at (215) 988-0080.

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