Early Intervention With New Anti-HIV Antibodies Provides Durable Control Of HIV-like Virus In Monkeys

Two novel anti-HIV antibodies enables the immune system to control the virus immediately after infection, preventing its return for an extended period, new research from The Rockefeller University and the National Institutes of Health suggests.

“This form of therapy can induce potent immunity to HIV, allowing the host to control the infection,” says Michel Nussenzweig, head of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. “It works by taking advantage of the immune system’s natural defences, similar to what happens in some forms of cancer immunotherapy.”

The two drugs used in the study, 3BNC117 and 10-1074, belong to a class of molecules called broadly neutralising antibodies. They were discovered by the Nussenzweig laboratory in studies of “elite controllers”. Each antibody binds to a different site of the virus, preventing its damaging effects from various angles.

Clinical trials testing the antibody combination in humans are also underway at The Rockefeller University Hospital.