There is still no cure or effective vaccine for HIV-1, which remains a public health threat. But scientists have opened up new possibilities in HIV treatment and vaccine development.
A Step Towards a Successful HIV Vaccine
Researchers have shown that it is possible to induce the production of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) with vaccines in nonhuman primates, which has long been thought of as a crucial part of successful HIV vaccination. The study also identified a novel target on HIV's spike protein, which may be a good target for future antibodies that could stop the virus from infecting cells. This research has been reported in Immunity.
HIV can mutate so quickly that is has been very challenging to create a vaccine that can effectively target the virus and stop it, since the virus can simply mutate its way around the vaccine. But bNAbs can recognize many different viral strains at once. Unfortunately it has been difficult to induce their production in nonhuman primates or humans. This work changes that.
“This is far from a final vaccine,” said senior study author Richard Wyatt, professor at Scripps Research. “But having a new, highly effective target is incredibly exciting and will help shape our efforts moving forward.”
An Antibody That Reduces HIV Reservoirs in Patients
Although anti-retroviral therapy (ART) is effective at suppressing HIV infection, it does not eliminate it. HIV patients have to take ART for a lifetime, since HIV can integrate into the genomes of host immune cells (called CD4+ T cells), to form a reservoir of HIV. This reservoir can't be destroyed with current drugs. But researchers have now shown that long lasting bNAbs can reduce the level of that reservoir significantly.
This work, which was done in a clinical trial with 68 volunteers, was reported at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.
“This is the first time a long-acting immune-based therapy has shown sustained viral control in multiple participants, allowing them to discontinue daily medication for over a year,” said Sarah Fidler of Imperial College.
These Advances Come with Serious Cuts in Funding
Unfortunately, these advances (which have been made possible by a variety of different funding sources) are coming as the Trump administration slashes research and aid budgets. Those actions are already having a negative impact on HIV research and prevention.
Science has reported that dozens of HIV-related trials, including some that have already spent money on logistics and recruiting trial participants are now under threat. For example, one of four clinical trial networks that is funded by the NIH and used around the world is shutting down future studies or stopping new enrollments.
An analysis by UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS) has indicated that these budget cuts will lead to an estimated 6.6 million additional, new HIV Infections and an additional 4.2 million AIDS-related deaths from 2025 to 2029. The impacts beyond that are hard to gauge but those additional cases and deaths will surely lead to compounding negative effects on communities.
Sources: Science, Scripps Research, Immunity, Rockefeller University
