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Dr. Peter Kim, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) biologist tapped to become the next head of Merck's drug research unit, has discovered a molecule that can prevent HIV from entering a cell by stopping the process known as membrane fusion by which the HIV cell pulls itself to a host cell. Current AIDS treatments attack the virus once it enters a host cell to prevent it from replicating, but this molecule and several others in a class known as "fusion inhibitors" show promise as alternatives for patients who have either become resistant to current drugs or cannot tolerate the myriad side effects associated with HIV drugs.

Hoffmann-La Roche is currently working with Trimeris to develop T-20, a fusion inhibitor that is a top priority for the FDA and could be approved by the middle of next year, but Kim's discovery could be even more effective than T-20. Progenics Pharmaceuticals and Schering-Plough are among the companies looking for other ways to stop HIV molecules before they reach host cells, potentially a way to reduce side effects and act more quickly against HIV.

Editor's Note: from The Wall Street Journal