But, there is hope for those stricken with the disease in the form of a promising new vaccine.

The next step is to inject promising vaccines into small numbers of humans to determine safety and the range of antibodies that are produced.

Merck has spent two decades researching AIDS medicines, including a promising vaccine.

Some experts favor testing any promising vaccine, even if it is likely to protect only a small proportion of recipients, arguing that something is better than nothing in a health emergency.

The Clinton Administration is planning deep cuts in a program to develop a malaria vaccine just as tests of a promising experimental vaccine get under way in Africa, Government officials say.

Among the products sold internationally are vaccines against various viral and bacterial pathogens, and promising anti-cancer vaccines are undergoing exhaustive clinical trials.

Or that other promising vaccines might be better.

He also suggested that when any laboratory found a promising vaccine, a meeting of the 10 laboratories be held to announce the discovery as the joint work of everyone.

The fund, for example, owns about 5 percent of York Medical, a private company in Toronto that tests and licenses Cuban medical breakthroughs like a promising anticancer vaccine.

How, given company concerns about profits and liability, could a promising vaccine receive worldwide distribution?