Virodene is a controversial AIDS drug developed in South Africa, but rejected by the scientific community. Controversy surrounds the research procedures, political interference and the safety and efficacy of the drug itself, the main active ingredient of which is the industrial solvent Dimethylformamide (DMF).
Michelle Olga Patricia Visser, working as a medical technician at Pretoria Hospital, says she discovered the anti-bacterial properties of DMF while conducting experiments to freeze animal hearts using this substance. In conjunction with her businessman husband, Jacques Siegfried "Zigi" Visser, she administered the drug to 11 patients without approval. They were rebuked for these actions and the South African Medicines Control Council blocked further human trials.
More human trials were conducted in Tanzania in 2000 even after the South African Medicines Control Council ruled that such trials would be unethical and in contravention of the law and refused permission for human trials in 1998. The Tanzania health agency, NIMR, also rejected proposals for human trials, but the Vissers approached the Tanzanian Defence Force directly and conducted the trials in military hospitals.
Calls have now been made in some circles for an investigation of South African President Thabo Mbeki's involvement in support or funding of the company.