Armenicum

For the first time publishing information about the drug in 1998 , the developers called it the “revolutionary AIDS treatment,” which immediately aroused the interest of senior government officials in Armenia. Initial financial support for drug testers was provided by the Ministry of State Security of Armenia, which hoped to promote scientific research of the drug. The possibilities of Armenicum provoked a violent reaction in the country ^[1] . As some newspapers reported in 1999 , businessmen bought up real estate in the country with the goal of renting it out to people who flew for treatment to Armenia. However, as of November 2008, only 800 people acquired the drug, with annual funding from the Armenian government at the rate of $ 6,000 per patient ^[2] . Clinical studies of the drug (1998-2000) were carried out in the intensive care unit and intensive care unit of the 1st Infectious Clinical Hospital in Yerevan; Head Department, Ph.D. Petr Lvovich Artishchev (1994-2000). 2A phase of clinical trials revealed good tolerability of the drug, a certain direction of undesirable side effects, which amounted to a very small percentage of the number of observations. Laboratory diagnostics of the tested tests was carried out by the laboratory "Prom-Test". The supervisor at that time and until the end of his life was the head. Department of YSMI, Ph.D. Levon Mkrtichevich Mkhitaryan (d. 2009). The general leadership was assigned to Emil Samsonovich Gabrielyan - director of the Republican Pharmacological Agency. In the past - Minister of Health of the ArmSSR ^[3] .

Subsequently, the established Armenikum CJSC acquired the buildings and territory of the infectious diseases hospital (2000). The reconstructed building was renamed the “Medical Center Armenicum”, which is still treating HIV infection ^[4] . He works at the state order.

In 1999, Komsomolskaya Pravda published reports on the treatment of 22-year-old HIV-infected Nikolai Kolesnikov, who agreed to test a new drug on himself. Armenian researchers of the drug claimed that Nikolai was completely cured of HIV infection, but later this information was refuted. December 25, 2004 Nikolai died of hypothermia on the porch of the Kaliningrad hospital ^[4] .

The main component of Armenicum is iodine , a common antiseptic . According to manufacturers, the drug also contains dextrin , polyvinyl alcohol , sodium , potassium , lithium cations and chlorine anions . The medicine is described as “a blue-violet liquid with a specific odor in an orange glass bottle with a volume of 20 ml, sealed with a rubber stopper with an aluminum cap” ^[5] . In clinical trials, an aqueous solution was used for drip, intravenous administration.

Worldwide, antiretroviral drugs are considered the only anti-HIV drug that has been proven effective by internationally recognized clinical trials. These drugs reduce the amount of HIV in the body and help prevent the development of AIDS , prolonging the lives of patients, often for many years. Usually a combination of 3-4 drugs is used, which periodically change due to the formation of resistance in the virus ( see the article Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy ).

Manufacturers of Armenicum claim that it activates the immune system , allowing the body to fight the virus. Armenicum researchers also claim that the drug, according to their data, reduces the viral load (the content of HIV in the body) and that the virus does not become resistant to the drug. The problem is that company scientists never even tried to confirm these claims. They admit that they did not even formally control the treatment of 250 patients who received the drug from 2004 to 2008 ^[2] .

In 1999, the BBC conducted an investigation, including an interview with scientists involved in the use of the drug in clinical practice, patients, as well as the developer of the drug, Doctor of Chemical Sciences Alexander Ivanovich Ilyin, expressing serious doubts about the effectiveness of the drug. It was concluded that Armenicum can do more harm than good. Dr. Manfred Dietrich of the Institute of Tropical Medicine ( Hamburg ) told the BBC: “I would not recommend using this drug”; according to one of the American patients, “we are in worse condition than we were before the start of treatment ” ^[6] .

6.http: //www.kommersant.ru/doc/219992