IRBID — Social media platforms are awash with posts
about Jordan
University of Science and Technology’s Yazen Alnouti, who marked a
milestone in the fight against
HIV-1.
اضافة اعلان
Set to be administered to patients annually (as opposed to
daily), Alnouti’s breakthrough aims at revolutionizing the way HIV-1 patients
are treated.
Prior to moving to the United States, Alnouti was a resident
of Kafr Sawm, a village in Irbid governorate.
His ambition and desire to participate in the development of
the pharmaceutical industry led him to Nebraska. During his time in the US, he worked
at the
Pfizer Pharmaceutical Factory and graduated with a PhD from the University
of Georgia. Today, he is a senior lecturer at the
University of Nebraska in
pharmacology and drug manufacturing.
“A group of my professors encouraged me and insisted that I
go to the US to pursue a career in pharmaceutical manufacturing. They believed
in me and saw the potential that I have,” Alnouti said in a phone interview
with Jordan News.
"It is important for everyone to realize that AIDS
medications have existed since the eighties and are available to all patients
who need them, but the problem is that those suffering from the disease need to
take medication daily for the rest of their lives,” added Alnouti. “Once the
patient stops taking their medication, the symptoms of the disease reappear, causing
the patient’s health to decline.”
During the interview, Alnouti quashed rumors surrounding his
attainment of a patent for the HIV-1 treatment.
“What I did was I developed and advanced existing studies on
AIDS medication for the purpose of ridding patients of the need to take it
every day,” he said. “Indeed, teamwork has managed to develop the drug so that
its effect lasts for a whole year and perhaps two years without the need to
commit to taking it daily.”
As for the patent, he added, "We haven't applied for
the patent yet, but we will soon do so."
According to Alnouti, these studies are distributed as
projects to teams of pharmacologists. Alnouti heads one of the teams working on
this project, which has been ongoing since 2008. During its trial stages, the
drug was tested on aminals, and the final stage was tested on monkeys. Alnouti’s
team is awaiting approval to test the drug on humans following its success on
animals.
“We can say that at this stage that the drug will not only
be for treatment, but also for prevention,” he said.
Al-Nouti’s work is not limited to this project. He has taken
part in similar ongoing projects, the most important of which is his research
on the detection of patients who are in immediate need of a liver transplant. As
demand exceeds what is available for liver transplant patients, scientists have
been forced to search for ways to help them prioritize patients. Alnouti, along
with his team, was able to reach a conclusion through analyzing a urine sample.
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