French AIDS Researchers Split Nobel With German

In a written statement, Gallo congratulated the winners, adding that he was "gratified" Montagnier had acknowledged that he was "equally deserving."

"I am pleased that the Nobel Committee chose to recognize the importance of AIDS with these awards and I am proud that my colleagues and I continue to search for an AIDS vaccine," Gallo said.

In a statement, John E. Niederhuber, director of the National Cancer Institute, praised Gallo's contributions, including the identification of growth factors that enabled scientists such as Montagnier to grow cells in the laboratory needed to isolate the virus. Niederhuber also noted that Gallo's work was crucial for the development of the blood test for the virus.

"While we are pleased that two scientists who contributed so much to AIDS research were recognized today, I am extremely disappointed that the NCI and all of the resources it brought to bear on the discovery of the AIDS virus -- along with the technology to make blood banking safe and the drugs that have made AIDS a chronic disease -- weren't, in some fashion, recognized," Niederhuber said.

Fauci noted that Gallo subsequently published work that definitively established HIV as the cause of AIDS.

"He made the incontrovertible link between the virus and disease," Fauci said.

In announcing the award, the Nobel committee said Montagnier and Barré-Sinoussi's initial discovery led to a series of crucial advances, including deciphering how the virus reproduces and infects cells and the development of the blood test and of powerful antiviral drugs that have helped contain the spread of the virus and reduce the death toll.

"The combination of prevention and treatment has substantially decreased spread of the disease and dramatically increased life expectancy among treated patients," the committee said. "Never before has science and medicine been so quick to discover, identify the origin and provide treatment for a new disease entity."

Montagnier, 76, who was attending an AIDS meeting in Africa, and Barré-Sinoussi, 61, who was doing research in Cambodia, both said they were pleased in interviews posted on the Nobel committee's Web site.

"Even after 20 years we are still fighting this virus," Montagnier said. "My message is that we should continue the research."

Montagnier said he was surprised that Gallo was not included in the list of winners. "There is no doubt that my American colleague's contribution has been important for showing the virus was the cause of AIDS," Montagnier said in a telephone interview.

The committee also praised zur Hausen's work, saying he "went against current dogma" when he proposed that HPV causes cervical cancer, the second-most-common cancer among women and the most common sexually transmitted agent. Among other things, the work led to development of vaccines against strains of the virus.

"The global public health burden attributable to human papillomaviruses is considerable," the committee said.

"I'm, of course, totally surprised. It's . . . a great pleasure for me," zur Hausen, 72, said in an interview posted on the committee's Web site.