HPA-23 was developed by Rhône-Poulenc at the Pasteur Institute in the 1970s and used in France on an experimental basis to treat HIV and AIDS patients beginning in 1984.
[1][2] The inventors of the drug, as listed in its patent, were Jean-Claude Chermann, Dominique Dormont, Etienne Vilmer, Bruno Spire, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Luc Montagnier, and Willy Rozenbaum.
[6] At the same time, however, some within the American scientific community cautioned AIDS sufferers against putting too much hope in HPA-23 and generally supported the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) conservative approach to certification.
[5][4] William A. Haseltine commented that reports of the drug's success in France were based on "the crummiest kind of anecdotal stories – they don't do the scientifically controlled trials".
[2][9] In the ensuing clinical trials no improvement in the condition of the test subjects was observed, with some even showing increased levels of HIV replication and three patients suffering liver failure triggered by the drug.