Last week, Dr. Steve Deeks presented evidence that a “functional cure” for HIV has been discovered after three people living with the virus were able to suppress it for several months without sustaining a regular treatment regimen.
“It is an inspiration and a potential road map to get to where we need to go,” said Deeks who leads a team of researchers at nonprofit Caring Cross, which works on the development of immunotherapies.
The findings were presented at a gene therapy conference. The researchers discovered that a single infusion of immune cells engineered to recognize HIV led to virus suppression in two study participants, the effects of which lasted two years for one participant in the study, according to The New York Times.
LGBTQ Nation reports Caring Cross used technology that has already been developed to attack cancer cells. Scientists engineered participants’ immune cells to carry two molecules on their surfaces that bind to HIV and consequently kill infected cells. They also prevent immune cells from becoming infected.
Those who participated in the study began the antiretroviral therapy just after first contracting HIV. Researchers claim early intervention is crucial to the effectiveness of the therapy, and reported those participants who had lived longer with HIV before starting the treatment did not respond as well to it. This is apparently owed to HIV’s tendency to, over time, hide “deep in the body where it evades both the immune system and drugs designed to track it down,” as per LGBTQ Nation.
Medicines to treat and prevent HIV have been a huge success as they became more widely used In recent years. Findings from the New England Journal of Medicine indicated that a twice-yearly injection had the potential to completely protect from HIV.
New research in HIV prevention and treatment continues to improve the lives of those living with the virus, and now more than ever, longer-lasting prevention and a potential cure is possible.
