South African AIDS "Cure" Conjures Up Kemron Myth

Claims by a team of Pretoria researchers that they have found a cheapwonder cure for AIDS have caused a stir, but also embarrassment for the University of Pretoria and the South African government.

The controversial news about the medicine, Virodene PO58, became public after four researchers - Olga Visser, an independent researcher at the University's department of cardiothoracic surgery, Dirk du Plessis and Callie Landauer, two cardiothoracic surgeons, and Eugene Olivier, a clinical pharmacist at Pretoria Technikon - presented their findings to a cabinet meeting with a request for state funding of approximately 4 million rand ($880,000).

The researchers claimed that Virodene PO58, which has been patented, can penetrate lymphocytes and inhibit the replication of HIV within cells. They presented two AIDS sufferers who described their experiences with the drug, which is delivered via a transdermal patch.