"four of 20 participants maintained undetectable levels of HIV for a median of 1.5 years without taking antiretrovirals. In the other, the RIO trial set in the United Kingdom and Denmark and led by Sarah Fidler, a clinical doctor and HIV research expert at Imperial College London, six of 34 HIV-positive participants have maintained viral control for at least two years."
"These landmark proof-of-concept trials show that the immune system can be harnessed to fight HIV. Researchers are now looking to conduct larger, more representative trials to see whether antibodies can be optimized to work for more people. "I do think that this kind of treatment has the opportunity to really shift the dial," Fidler says, "because they are long-acting drugs"-with effects that can persist even after they're no longer in the body. "So far, we haven't seen anything that works like that.""
Engineered broadly neutralizing antibody infusions produced durable viral suppression in subsets of participants in two independent trials. One trial in South Africa (FRESH) reported four of 20 participants maintained undetectable HIV for a median of 1.5 years off antiretrovirals. Another trial in the United Kingdom and Denmark (RIO) reported six of 34 participants maintained viral control for at least two years. The interventions indicate that the immune system can be harnessed to control HIV long-term without continuous drug therapy. Larger, more representative trials are planned to optimize antibody design, improve response rates, and assess safety and durability across diverse populations.
Read at Ars Technica
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