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The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2006 Jun. ~ 2006 Dec.: Health Center (ARCHIVES): HIV users admin

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Herckleperckle
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11-20-2003

Sunday, November 19, 2006 - 2:58 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Herckleperckle a private message Print Post    
Source: Ivanhoe.com
Reported November 7, 2006

Breakthrough Treatment for HIV


(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Scientists are reporting promising results for a new gene therapy aimed at HIV.

Initial results show the treatment, called VRX496, effectively blocks the ability of HIV to both mutate and reproduce.

"This is an important milestone in the development of what we believe will be the next-generation of HIV therapy," reports Riku Rautsola, Ph.D., president and CEO of VIRxSYS Corporation, which is testing the treatment with researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. "VRX496 is engineered in a way that debilitates HIV's ability to replicate and mutate around the therapy, overcoming a common problem with current drug treatments."

VRX496 is based on a disabled HIV virus genetically engineered to carry material that blocks the ability of HIV to reproduce.

The treatment was administered intravenously on a one-time basis to five HIV patients who failed to respond to standard anti-retroviral therapy. So far, VRX496 has led to stable or increased CD4 T cell counts in four out of the five patients, and all five have demonstrated stable or increased immune response to HIV antigens. The therapy has also led to a stable or decreasing viral load in all five patients and significant reductions in three.

"This trial provides intriguing data in a pilot study evaluating a gene therapy vector and its application in the setting of HIV," write the authors. "Taken together the results support the clinical promise of gene transfer using lentiviral vector technology."

The patients will continue to be followed on an annual basis for the next 15 years. In the meantime, researchers are conducting new studies on the therapy to see if single and repeated doses of the treatment are safe and tolerable by patients. They also believe the science behind the therapy might one day help patients with other serious diseases.


SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online Nov. 6, 2006