Scientists have engineered an antibody that
attacks 99% of HIV strains
and can prevent infection in primates.
It is built to attack three critical parts of the virus - making it
harder for HIV
to resist its effects.
The work is a collaboration between the US National Institutes of Health
and the pharmaceutical company Sanofi.
The International Aids Society said it was an "exciting
breakthrough". Human trials will start in 2018 to see if it can prevent or
treat infection.
Our bodies struggle to fight HIV because
of the virus' incredible ability to mutate and change its appearance.
These varieties of HIV - or strains -
in a single patient are comparable to those of influenza during
a worldwide flu season.
So, the immune system finds itself in a fight against an insurmountable
number of strains of HIV.
Super-antibodies
But after years of infection, a small number of patients develop
powerful weapons called "broadly neutralising antibodies" that attack
something fundamental to HIV and can
kill large swathes of HIV strains.
Researchers have been trying to use broadly neutralising antibodies as a
way to treat HIV or prevent infection in the first place.
The study, published
in the journal Science, combines three such antibodies into an even
more powerful "tri-specific
antibody".
Dr Gary Nabel, the chief scientific officer at Sanofi and one of the
report authors, told the BBC News website: "They are more potent and have
greater breadth than any single naturally occurring antibody that's been
discovered."
The best naturally occurring antibodies will target 90% of HIV
strains.
"We're getting 99% coverage, and getting coverage at very low
concentrations of the antibody," said Dr Nabel.
Experiments on 24 monkeys showed none of those given the tri-specific
antibody developed an infection when they were later injected with the virus.
Dr Nabel said: "It was quite an impressive degree of
protection."
The work included scientists at Harvard Medical School, The Scripps
Research Institute, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
'Exciting'
Clinical trials to test the antibody in people will start next year.
Prof Linda-Gail Bekker, the president of the International Aids Society,
told the BBC: "This paper reports an exciting breakthrough.
"These super-engineered antibodies seem to go beyond the natural
and could have more applications than we have imagined to date.
"It's early days yet, and as a scientist I look forward to seeing
the first trials get off the ground in 2018.
"As a doctor in Africa, I feel the urgency to confirm these
findings in humans as soon as possible."
Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases, said it was an intriguing approach.
He added: "Combinations of antibodies that each bind to a distinct
site on HIV
may best overcome the defences of the virus in the effort to achieve effective
antibody-based treatment and prevention."
Submit your abstracts here: https:/std-hiv-aids.cmesociety.com/abstract-submission
to join and share your work at STD 2018 conference held at Toronto, Canada on
December 03-043, 2018. Earn CME hours by attending the conference. To register
follow this link: https://std-hiv-aids.cmesociety.com/registration
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