Human Trials are Initiated to Find an HIV Cure

The UK-based pharmaceutical major GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will initiate human trials as part of its efforts to find a cure for HIV. The planned clinical tests involving humans are considered to be ground-breaking trials.

In recent years, treatments against HIV have emerged which are allowing the affected persons to live a long life. However, the disease cannot be completely cured which forces millions of individuals around the world to live with HIV, which has been massively stigmatized.

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‘The drugs used by those who are at high risk due to close contact with HIV patients may replace the current requirement of taking daily pills.’

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An estimated 38 million people globally were living with the disease in 2019, as per a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study.

Notably, GSK is one of the major players among drug companies that offer injection therapy for persons diagnosed with HIV instead of taking daily pills.

The pharmaceutical firm is reportedly working towards making its injection therapy longer-lasting, which could allow the patients to get injected only once in six months.

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The company is also reportedly developing longer-active preventive drugs against HIV which can be administered at longer gaps.

GSK would reportedly start testing therapies on humans to wake up a latent HIV within people's immune cells. Once the virus is brought out, efforts would be directed towards neutralizing it.

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"The idea is that you have to wake up the latent virus and try to get rid of it," quoted Dr. Kimberly Smith, head of research & development at GSK's HIV health division ViiV Healthcare, as saying.

The therapy, during the trials on non-human primates, was found to be successful in making the cells identify themselves.

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If it produces the desired results in humans during the trials, the next target would be to clear the virus after it has been induced.

Source-Medindia