Yalta of Aids

For two years the battle served as a rude reminder that science is no stranger to politics, greed or egotism. The combatants: Dr. Luc Montagnier of Paris' Pasteur Institute and Dr. Robert Gallo of the National Cancer Institute. At issue: who first identified the AIDS virus, and who should own the patent for developing the tests used to screen blood for AIDS infection. At stake: $5 million a year in royalties from the tests, plus no small measure of national pride and, quite possibly, a Nobel Prize. Thus it was fitting that when the squabble ended last week, its resolution was announced in no lesser place than the White House by no lesser figures than President Ronald Reagan and French Premier Jacques Chirac.

Dubbed the "Yalta of AIDS" by the Paris press, the pact credits both labs equally for inventing the blood tests, ending litigation brought by Pasteur against the American researchers. The text does not answer the question of who discovered the AIDS virus, offering instead a chronology of relevant discoveries by Gallo, Montagnier and others. It leaves interpretation to historians and the Nobel Committee. "For us, this agreement is very satisfying," declared Maxime Schwartz, deputy director at Pasteur. Said Gallo: "I'm very, very happy and look forward to being able to concentrate with more depth than I have lately."

The agreement was hammered out over many months and in several countries -- wherever the peripatetic scientists happened to be attending meetings. Both sides praised Dr. Jonas Salk, developer of the polio vaccine, for serving as unofficial mediator. "It seemed like an unhealthy state for all concerned," reflected Salk, who stepped in after speaking with both scientists at an AIDS conference in Paris last June. "It was not in the best interest of either science or the public to have this linger." Salk also helped devise the most generous stroke of the agreement: the creation of a new foundation to sponsor AIDS-related research, education and public-health efforts. Both scientific teams have agreed to contribute 80% of their royalties to the foundation.

Meanwhile, Reagan last week offered his first public statement on the controversial issue of AIDS education in public schools. In an address to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, he vowed to find a cure for what he called "public-health enemy No. 1" but stressed that the battle against the fatal disease must be coupled with instruction in moral values, including the need for sexual abstinence. "When it comes to preventing AIDS," he observed, "don't medicine and morality teach the same lessons?"