Global Fund delays funding cycle

The cash-strapped Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria elected in November to defer its upcoming funding cycle after officials from the Bush administration proposed a 6- to 12-month delay because of a projected $285 million funding shortfall. The agency plans to accept project proposals in March 2005 and award its fifth round of grants in September.

The fund's board of directors had hoped to launch the already overdue 2005 grant cycle immediately after its meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, in November. But with $1.4 billion needed to renew existing two- and three-year grants, fund Executive Director Richard Feachem hailed the board's commitment to awarding an additional $1 billion.

In Arusha, British Secretary of State Hillary Benn joined African heads of state, urging G8 and European Union countries to maintain the fund's solvency. Germany on 3 December pledged €82 million for the current year, more than doubling the €38 it donated in 2004. The US, the fund's biggest backer, cut its 2005 donation to $350 million—a cut of nearly $200 million from the previous year.—BD

UN cloning ban shelved

The United Nations on November 18 abandoned an effort to formalize an international policy on stem cell research after polarized member nations blocked a US-led effort to outlaw all human cloning.

Diplomats will instead resume work in February on a nonbinding declaration introduced by Italy, which urges countries to prohibit only cloning for human reproductive purposes. The compromise will be ambiguous enough to appease both advocates and opponents.

US President George W. Bush in September urged the 191-member General Assembly to impose a worldwide ban, and his strident opposition to the cloning of human embryos for stem-cell extraction became a key issue in his successful reelection bid.

The US and 61 others had backed a Costa Rican–proposed treaty that paved the way to an all-out ban. Some 22 countries, including Britain, favored a competing Belgian resolution that preserved their autonomy to permit so-called therapeutic cloning.—BD

Generic manufacturers gain ground in patent fights

Generic drug manufacturers in late November won rights to distribute cheap AIDS drugs and antibiotics, a boost to the increasingly aggressive tack these companies are taking.

Indian generic drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories in November began distributing clarithromycin in the UK, after winning a patent dispute against Abbott Pharmaceuticals. The company is also challenging Pfizer patents on world's best-selling cholesterol drug Lipitor. Ranbaxy took a hit last August (Nat. Med. 10, 885; 2004) when the World Health Organization (WHO) stopped approval for three of its AIDS drugs because of substandard testing facilities.

But two generic antiretroviral drugs manufactured by another Indian company regained approval after being delisted by the WHO in May. In response to complaints that comparisons to brand-name counterparts weren't performed by international standards, Cipla Ltd. ran new WHO-approved studies.

Brazil has also jumped into the generic melee, threatening to break patents on AIDS drugs. The country was the first to provide free drugs to AIDS patients and has previously used this tactic to negotiate lower prices with international pharmaceutical companies. Brazilian government officials say the move is legal under World Trade Organization regulations that support manufacturing licenses issued in a national emergency.—ES

US tightens belt for life sciences research

US federal funding for biomedical sciences will be tight next year, according to the federal budget approved by Congress in November. Although the government boosted total spending on research and development to record levels, it increased non-defense-related spending by just 2.2%—much less than the increases of recent years.

Between 1998 and 2003, funding for life sciences research had increased by 15% each year under a plan to double the budget for the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). This year, lawmakers allocated the NIH $28.6 billion—increasing the budget by just 2% for the second year in a row (Nat. Med. 9, 249; 2004). That is below the 3.5% inflation rate for biomedical research, according to an analysis by the American Association of the Advancement of Science. The number of NIH Research Project Grants may rise by 1.4%. But funding for the agency's Roadmap for Medical Research is to double to $237 million.

The new budget will also cut funding to the National Science Foundation for the first time in almost two decades, bringing the agency's budget down by 1.9%. Funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will increase by 3% to $4.5 billion, with additional money from projects related to vaccine development and biodefense. Analysts say the budget is a preview of lean years for basic research as President Bush attempts to reduce the nation's budget deficit in the face of security concerns.—AK

New US health chief nominated

Michael Leavitt (L) is to replace health secretary Tommy Thompson (R).

Michael O. Leavitt, head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and former governor of Utah, was nominated in December to replace Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson.

The announcement came as a surprise to many, who expected Mark McClellan, former US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner and current head of Medicare and Medicaid programs, to be named Thompson's successor.

Leavitt will be expected to oversee an organization with a budget 60 times larger than that of either the EPA or the state of Utah. He will be responsible for a host of national programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and oversee many federal agencies including the FDA, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.

During his tenure as Utah's governor, Leavitt made significant changes to the state's healthcare system, expanding coverage for some low-income residents, while cutting benefits and increasing costs for others. He has not yet publicized his views on controversial health issues such as prescription drug imports and stem cell research.

Thompson will step down from his position in February, after a four-year tenure marked by conflicts with the research community. He took an aggressive approach to his position, proposing centralization of various services such as media and congressional relations. He also introduced limits on travel of federal researchers to scientific meetings.—ES

Written by Bruce Diamond, Emily Singer and Alla Katsnelson.