In the ongoing fight to effectively treat HIV, Science reports the development of a new type of antibody that has demonstrated in clinical trials its efficacy against almost all strains of the AIDS virus.
One of the main reasons why HIV is so difficult to eradicate is, as is the case with the flu virus, because it is constantly evolving. Because of this high mutation rate, in which the surface proteins are altered, the immune system struggles to recognize them. This makes the job of developing a really complicated drug.
It also means that inside the body, the virus can be transformed into different strains. This constitutes the immune system again, as it must fight against several types of the same pathogen.
But this new research promises that this antibody will not only be effective with those already infected, but also useful for the infection does not spread.
The tests were tested by developing antibodies that affected the virus in three different sites. These are known as trispecific or largely neutralizing antibodies; some people produce them naturally after years of HIV infection and can kill a wide variety of different strains.
However, these natural antibodies only succeed to some extent. So far, evidence has shown that they are able to fight 90% of HIV strains, which, although good, is not perfect. But by adjusting these antibodies, the researchers developed a new version that allowed to cover 99% of the strains.
"They are more powerful and have a wider width than any natural antibody that has been discovered," says Gary Nabel, Chief Scientific Officer of Sanofi at the BBC. "We get very low antibody coverage".
The researchers tested these antibodies in 24 monkeys. Incredibly, they found that none of the primates that received such antibodies developed an infection after being injected with HIV.
Human trials are planned for 2018. Although there is still a long way to go, even if this treatment is effective.