Bill Gates interested in funding factory in Thailand for HIV vaccine

[Suradit69]

Some one should explain to Bill that hard graft is not quite what he thinks it is, in Thailand.

Gates has dealt with politicians in Washington DC and with the corporate world in the US. The folks there are professionals when it comes to graft and corruption. Thailand doesn't come close.

[Suradit69]

Bill Gates, in all good intentions, will freak out when he notices how many people here are using his product liscenses and are not paying for it.

Including most schools and government offices.

'will freak out when he notices how many people here are using his product liscenses and are not paying for it."

I'm sure you have a far better grasp of the facts that anyone at Microsoft.

There's a reason why Bill is a billionaire and you're not.

[Tatsujin]

Anyone seen the statement from Bill Gates or the Foundation itself confirming this, or are they talking crap once again ... ?

[chooka]

"If Thailand receives funding from the foundation to develop the HIV vaccine and to eventually build the vaccine factory, Thailand will become the country with the world's first HIV vaccine factory," Nares said.

I thought they're heading to become the world's leading educational hub?

They already have the ebola vaccine and appear to be world leaders in vaccines. A virus pops up and bam Thailand will create a cure within 24 hours

[chooka]

Anyone seen the statement from Bill Gates or the Foundation itself confirming this, or are they talking crap once again ... ?

Don't need to ask Bill, Thailand says it so it must be true. All part of the happiness propaganda being fed to the mushrooms.

[Jimbolai]

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But, but... why the negativity?

As the report says:

...Thailand will become the country with the world's first HIV vaccine factory,

Maybe even beconme a hub?

A hub in the center of the world. All eyes on Thailand. All researchers must study in Thailand to learn how to be truly great.

[Taco]

The world is very lucky to have Bill Gates as the richest person. From combating polio to developing lasers to shoot malarial mosquitoes to supporting the battle against Ebola to this latest endeavor.

In a 100 years when the richest person is Chinese and he is spending his last dime on a high tech fishing fleet to skin the last shark fin intelligent people will be missing someone like Bill Gates.

[DM07]

Bill Gates reportedly is interested

Reported by who, because he was saying what?

It was also reported, that all of England is happy with the work of the RTP and that the PM was greeted with smiles and applause,everywhere he went.

I believe it, when I hear it.

[Benmart]

This is a news article from a Bangkok newspaper. When the Gates Foundation makes an announcement and a press release, then perhaps it will be more credible.

[cornishcarlos]

The world is very lucky to have Bill Gates as the richest person. From combating polio to developing lasers to shoot malarial mosquitoes to supporting the battle against Ebola to this latest endeavor.

In a 100 years when the richest person is Chinese and he is spending his last dime on a high tech fishing fleet to skin the last shark fin intelligent people will be missing someone like Bill Gates.

He isn't , Carlos Slim is... Don't think he is interested in an HIV vaccine factory either. !!

[LivinLOS]

Possibly this is not well known in these circles but Thailand has some very good people working this field, 2 in particular are world renowned scientist that lead to the break through for a HIV vaccine , Thailand's medical medicine research on HIV is second to none and it is pleasing that Bill Gates is interested in investing in a factory in Thailand ,these people deserve all the support they can muster , they have mine , get on board Bill.

Really ?? Name the research please..

Sangamo Bio-sciences and others working on the CCR5 gene therapy and disruption appear the hottest contenders for this title.

[EricBerg]

So Bill Gatesis offered to build a factory in Thailand, instantly lose 51% of his investments and forced to hand over all decision making to Thais? Being the successful businessman he is he most certainly will jump at the opportunity.

[anon467367354]

we've seen what his vaccines can do, best to stay clear of anything he does.

[Krataiboy]

What vaccine? After nearly half a century of trying nobody has yet come up with one and shown any likelihood of doing so. To me, this indicates that the sceptics who refuted - and still do claims by Gallo and others that the HIV virus had been isolated (a necessity if a vaccine is ever to be produced) may in the end be proved right.

A bit like climate change, the subject of AIDS is controversial and the evidence open to different analysis and interpretation even by experts in the various fields involved.

One longs for certainty as to the cause and the production of a vaccine to inhibit the HIV virus, if indeed it actually exists and can be shown to be the trigger for AIDS. But a cure seems no nearer than it was in the Eighties and meanwhile the pharmaceutical industry is making staggering profits from prolonging the lives of patients who might or might not have signs of HIV in their blood (astonishingly - at least to my mind - test kits vary the world over and as a result you can be HIV positive in one country and negative in another).

I have spent years researching this vexed subject and am no nearer now to a firm conclusion than I was when I started. I guess most people are content to take the word of the majority of the so-called experts and scientists who support the theory that a virus called HIV causes the AIDS and the opportunistic infections we associate with the condition. But there are so many vested interests - both personal and commercial - involved that it is probably unwise to do so.

There is plenty of material out there, from investigative journalism, to highly technical papers produced by workers in the field, for those interested in trying to make up their own minds.

[kinmaew]

Farang Money? Convenient isn't it means you can maintain your lifestyle. Where is the Thai money from the Elite tell me that? Too busy on private jets to Paris to worry about the working poor.

Come to foreigners when you want human rights and genuine compassion.

[FangFerang]

In October, Thailand became the first Asian country to provide HIV drugs to patients free of charge.

Of course they want a factory here.

[MrColdNose]

Possibly this is not well known in these circles but Thailand has some very good people working this field, 2 in particular are world renowned scientist that lead to the break through for a HIV vaccine , Thailand's medical medicine research on HIV is second to none and it is pleasing that Bill Gates is interested in investing in a factory in Thailand ,these people deserve all the support they can muster , they have mine , get on board Bill.

Really ?? Name the research please..

Sangamo Bio-sciences and others working on the CCR5 gene therapy and disruption appear the hottest contenders for this title.

Please read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RV_144

[khunpa]

Hahhahahahhahahahahaaa.... Thanks for this - made my day!

[FlipSide]

Has anyone stopped to consider why Bill Gates, the biggest supporter & financier of the World's Eugenics program, and largest shareholder of Monsanto, and supporter of the Transpacific Partnership, who has already come under fire for instigating vaccination programs riddled with mercury & other poisons that terminate pregnancies, and sterilize young women, and destroy the humans natural immune systems in 3rd World countries- wants to do more of his damage to Thailand. He & the whole TPP are not to be trusted. Every person that I have known or in my years of research that was given the AZT cocktail some years back never made it to this day. Hey Bill & Melinda Thailand doesn't need you.

[MauiSteveBKK]

They got a meeting with The Foundation. I'm impressed.

Meetings like that are not easy to get -- even if BG was not present in person -- I'm sure

he lets his Executive Team handle the first meeting.

It's certainly the kind of thing he likes to invest into.

Just don't let him near Pratnip Plaza and Chatuchak (JJ's) Market. Or any other electronics store.

[AyG]

Has anyone stopped to consider why Bill Gates, the biggest supporter & financier of the World's Eugenics program, and largest shareholder of Monsanto, and supporter of the Transpacific Partnership, who has already come under fire for instigating vaccination programs riddled with mercury & other poisons that terminate pregnancies, and sterilize young women, and destroy the humans natural immune systems in 3rd World countries- wants to do more of his damage to Thailand. He & the whole TPP are not to be trusted. Every person that I have known or in my years of research that was given the AZT cocktail some years back never made it to this day. Hey Bill & Melinda Thailand doesn't need you.

Methinks your tin foil helmet is on too tight.

Do you actually know the meaning of the word "eugenics"? There's nothing to connect Bill Gates with eugenics.

The largest shareholder of Monsanto is The Vanguard Group. Bill Gates isn't even in the top 10. (See http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=MON+Major+Holders )

His foundation has also spoken out against the TPP. (See http://www.ip-watch.org/2014/05/20/gates-foundation-echoes-who-concern-over-limits-to-drug-access-in-trade-deals/ )

There is no evidence that mercury (used as a preservative in vaccinations) has ever harmed anybody in any significant way. (See http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Concerns/thimerosal/index.html )

And yes, many people given AZT died. However, AZT was the first medicine found to be effective against HIV and prolonged life. Safer treatments became available and people were transferred to them. Some people who were transferred are still alive today.

[RustBucket]

They basically went cap in hand for money.

They went through the initial application procedures.

They were told that it will be considered in a month and that someone will get back to them.

It went well because we were not thrown out on out &lt;deleted&gt; by security.

[bapoboy]

Why would one want to fund research in a country so corrupt?

Another opportunity to steal monies away from its intended purpose....

Mr Gates needs to do a business analysis....

What does Thailand offer than HIV cases, human trafficking, labor abuse and many research sub-groups?

On second thought...

CB

it sounds like you are one of the farang living in thailand but you are never satisfied, I could be wrong, but if you really live here so I advise you to move home, there is no Forced you to stay in thailand / to be there, you chose it yourself..

[Ulic]

Tour de France, Formula 1 race, cure for Ebola, 3% of Thai computers run a legal copy of Windows.

The article may have a couple of accurate points but I am not holding my breath.

[chooka]

Bill Gates invests his billions, Thailand takes the automatic 51% share of his wealth then with that majority screws him out of the rest. Don't think Bill Gates is that stupid to invest in Thailand.

[Bruce404]

There seems to be a fair amount of uninformed opinion on this posting, as Thailand has for decades actually been a leader for all aspects of biomedical research on HIV/AIDS, including vaccines to prevent it.

In fact, the world's first HIV vaccine trial ever to show some success took place in Rayong and Chonburi provinces, in a joint effort of the Thailand Ministry of Public Health, the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) in Bangkok, and the U.S. Army's Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), among other parties.

The trials found a modest but real 31% reduction of HIV infections among those who got the vaccine compared to those who got placebo shots (around 60% reduction in the first year, after which the effect seems to have worn off). You can read about it, free, in one of the world's leading medical journals: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0908492

That report's accompanying editorial is here: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe0909972 (also not behind a paywall). To put 31% efficacy into perspective, influenza vaccines often have efficacy rates of only 50% to 75%, particularly in the elderly that need them most. So 31% efficacy for the "Thailand" AIDS vaccine is like hitting a solid single or double hit upon first stepping up to the plate, to use baseball lingo.

Followup studies on this vaccine (actually a pair of different ones used in succession) are proceeding apace around Thailand and elsewhere, trying to improve the protection it affords vaccinated persons. Valuable clues to how the vaccines worked are now being elucidated, which will make easier future vaccine trials (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1113425).

So meeting with the Gates Foundation now to be ready to produce this vaccine, once tweaked to improve its performance, shows foresight. It can take years to build a plant to make a new vaccine, and the world doesn't want to wait that long if and when another trial hits a home run.

[pacovl46]

Some time ago there was an article on Thai-Visa that a hospital in Thailand already had a HIV-vaccine which was successfully tested on humans, so why do they need to develop it again?

[chooka]

Some time ago there was an article on Thai-Visa that a hospital in Thailand already had a HIV-vaccine which was successfully tested on humans, so why do they need to develop it again?

Yes read that also. The have the vaccine for ebola also but don't want to share it. I think these scammers are hanging out for the biggest suckered to through money at them.

Personally I don't think the pack of liars even have a cure for an itch

[AyG]

The trials found a modest but real 31% reduction of HIV infections among those who got the vaccine compared to those who got placebo shots (around 60% reduction in the first year, after which the effect seems to have worn off). You can read about it, free, in one of the world's leading medical journals: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0908492

The trial itself was poorly designed without any underlying scientific logic; no adequate underlying logic was presented as to why two proven ineffective treatments at the same time might produce an effective one. It was widely opposed as a waste of valuable resources.

The results were initially published in the popular press. Not in a peer reviewed scientific journal. Always a red flag.

The initial statistical analysis was deeply flawed - and even that showed that by 2 out of the 3 statistical tests the regime was ineffective. Reanalysis (see http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-statisticians-landmark-hiv-vaccine-trial.html ) suggests there's roughly a 1 in 3 chance that the treatment is completely ineffective, and that the vaunted "real 31% reduction of HIV infections" was simply a statistical anomaly.

[Nickymaster]

But, but... why the negativity?

As the report says:

...Thailand will become the country with the world's first HIV vaccine factory,

Maybe even beconme a hub?

Why the negativity?

I guess its cool to criticize everything. It's very common during puberty.