On Tuesday, 12 November, a Czech edition of the book "Cold War Triangle: How Scientists in East and West Tamed HIV" by Renilde Loeckx, translated by Jaroslav Kurfürst, was launched in the Dejvice Theater in Prague.
The book tells the story of Antonín Holý from IOCB Prague, Erik De Clercq from KU Leuven and John C. Martin, later CEO of Gilead Sciences, who were doggedly working in the field of antiviral treatments when the AIDS epidemic struck. Faced with one of the grand challenges of modern biology of the twentieth century, scientists worked across the political divide of the Cold War to produce a new class of antivirals. Their molecules, developed by a Californian start-up together with teams of scientists at the Rega Institute of KU Leuven and IOCB Prague, eventually became the cornerstone of the blockbuster drugs now used to combat and prevent HIV.
The presentation of the book was held under the auspices of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium and the US Embassy in the Czech Republic and was attended by the Belgian ambassador Grégoire Cuvelier, US ambassador Stephen B. King, Prof. Erik De Clercq, IOCB Prague director Zdeněk Hostomský, former IOCB Prague director and the Vice director of the CAS Zdeněk Havlas and many other precious guests.
- Czech edition: Loeckxová, Renilde. Trojúhelník studené války: Jak vědci na Východě a Západě pokořili HIV. Praha: Academia, 2019
- English edition: Loeckx, Renilde. Cold War Triangle: How Scientists in East and West Tamed HIV. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2017
(Photo: Tomáš Belloň / IOCB Prague)
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