"Gasping": Scientists Make Breakthrough Toward Full Cure for HIV
As The Guardian reports, scientists at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne found a way to make the HIV virus visible, potentially laying the groundwork for ways to banish it from the body altogether.
As detailed in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the team developed a way to send messenger RNA into cells, to root out the hiding virus by fully enveloping it in a bubble of formulated fat called lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). The genetic molecules then instruct the cells to make the virus visible.
Author and Doherty Institute research fellow Paula Cevaal told the Guardian that it was "previously thought impossible" to deliver mRNA into HIV-containing white blood cells. But thanks to a new type of LNPs, dubbed LNP X, the team found a way for these cells to accept the mRNA.
"Our hope is that this new nanoparticle design could be a new pathway to an HIV cure," she added.
The human immunodeficiency virus attacks the human body's immune system and can lead to deadly AIDS if left untreated. Despite decades of research, there's still no effective cure for the disease; though a handful of patients have been fully cured of HIV, the treatments remain brutally complex and expensive.
While the number of people in the United States living with HIV has decreased since 2018, over 39,000 new patients were diagnosed in 2023.
The latest research came with such surprising findings that the team didn't believe it at first.
"We were overwhelmed by how [much of a] night and day difference it was — from not working before, and then all of a sudden it was working. And all of us were just sitting gasping like, 'wow,'" Cevaal told the Guardian.
While it's a promising step in the right direction, scientists still have to figure out whether making the hidden virus visible will cause the body's immune system to deal with it. Other possibilities include developing new ways to combine their findings with other gene therapies to ultimately cure HIV.
Before the latest technique can be used in humans, it would also have to be put through its paces, from animal experiments to human safety trials, a process that could easily take many years.
And Cevaal appears to be realistic about those chances.
"In the field of biomedicine, many things eventually don't make it into the clinic — that is the unfortunate truth; I don't want to paint a prettier picture than what is the reality," she told the Guardian. "But in terms of specifically the field of HIV cure, we have never seen anything close to as good as what we are seeing, in terms of how well we are able to reveal this virus."
"So from that point of view, we're very hopeful that we are also able to see this type of response in an animal, and that we could eventually do this in humans," she added.
Beyond HIV, the researchers are hoping their LNP-based mRNA delivery method could be applied to other diseases as well, including certain types of cancer.
More on HIV: Religious Conservatives Trying to End Insurance Coverage of Incredibly Effective Anti-HIV Drug
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Exclusive-CVS holds off adding Gilead's new HIV prevention shot to drug coverage lists
By Deena Beasley (Reuters) -CVS Health, which runs the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit manager, will not add Gilead Sciences' new HIV prevention drug to its commercial plans for now, a spokesperson told Reuters, despite the medicine's proven effectiveness. CVS based the decision on clinical, financial, and regulatory factors, spokesperson David Whitrap said in an email. It also will not cover Yeztugo under its Affordable Care Act formularies, since its ACA preventive program follows recommendations and mandates from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Whitrap said. Current HIV prevention recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which is supported by HHS, include only three older drugs. A source familiar with the situation suggested that Gilead is still negotiating with CVS over Yeztugo, a twice-yearly injection with a U.S. list price of more than $28,000 a year. The decision by CVS is "a grave disappointment and frankly a missed opportunity," said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS nonprofit AVAC. "It does reflect a price that is too high and a U.S. pharmaceutical pricing structure that is frankly not sustainable." He and other AIDS activists have said Yeztugo could be a transformative tool in ending the 44-year-old epidemic that infects 1.3 million people a year and is estimated by the World Health Organization to have killed more than 42 million. Gilead said it is "extremely pleased" with progress in its conversations with payers, most of whom continue to cover HIV prevention products with no cost sharing or coverage barriers. The company said it is on track to secure 75% U.S. insurer coverage of Yeztugo by year-end and 90% coverage by June 2026. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, act as middlemen between drug companies and consumers. They negotiate volume discounts with drug manufacturers on behalf of employers and health plans based on coverage terms. The three largest - CVS Caremark, UnitedHealth Group's OptumRX and Cigna's Express Scripts - control about 70% of specialty drug prescriptions in the U.S. Optum said Yeztugo will be reviewed for coverage in the coming weeks, while Express Scripts did not respond to requests for comment. U.S. government healthcare programs, including the Veterans Administration and the Medicare program for people over age 65, have already added Yeztugo to coverage lists. Gilead said earlier this month that several state-run Medicaid plans, including California and New York, were covering the drug. Gilead, its investors, and AIDS activists have high hopes for Yeztugo. Approved in June for people at high risk of HIV, the drug was shown to be nearly 100% effective at preventing infection in large trials, fueling fresh optimism about limiting the spread of the deadly virus. Some analysts have warned that a recent Supreme Court ruling affirming broad HHS authority over the USPSTF could affect coverage prospects while Robert F. Kennedy Jr is in charge of the agency. Medical groups have expressed alarm about reports that Kennedy could replace members of the task force. The 16-member task force reviews evidence and public input, then recommends preventive services that catch disease early or prevent worsening, which insurers must cover without patient cost-sharing. For HIV prevention, it endorses daily PrEP pills Truvada, which is available as a generic, and Gilead's Descovy, as well as ViiV Healthcare's bimonthly shot Apretude. Gilead CEO Daniel O'Day has stressed that the lifetime cost of treating an HIV patient can exceed $1 million, making a preventive treatment cost effective. (Reporting By Deena Beasley; Editing by Patrick Wingrove and Diane Craft)
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Exclusive-CVS holds off adding Gilead's new HIV prevention shot to drug coverage lists
By Deena Beasley (Reuters) -CVS Health, which runs the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit manager, will not add Gilead Sciences' new HIV prevention drug to its commercial plans for now, a spokesperson told Reuters, despite the medicine's proven effectiveness. CVS based the decision on clinical, financial, and regulatory factors, spokesperson David Whitrap said in an email. It also will not cover Yeztugo under its Affordable Care Act formularies, since its ACA preventive program follows recommendations and mandates from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Whitrap said. Current HIV prevention recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which is supported by HHS, include only three older drugs. A source familiar with the situation suggested that Gilead is still negotiating with CVS over Yeztugo, a twice-yearly injection with a U.S. list price of more than $28,000 a year. The decision by CVS is "a grave disappointment and frankly a missed opportunity," said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS nonprofit AVAC. "It does reflect a price that is too high and a U.S. pharmaceutical pricing structure that is frankly not sustainable." He and other AIDS activists have said Yeztugo could be a transformative tool in ending the 44-year-old epidemic that infects 1.3 million people a year and is estimated by the World Health Organization to have killed more than 42 million. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, act as middlemen between drug companies and consumers. They negotiate volume discounts with drug manufacturers on behalf of employers and health plans based on coverage terms. The three largest - CVS Caremark, UnitedHealth Group's OptumRX and Cigna's Express Scripts - control about 70% of specialty drug prescriptions in the U.S. Optum said Yeztugo will be reviewed for coverage in the coming weeks, while Express Scripts did not respond to requests for comment. Gilead, which declined to comment, said earlier this month it is on track to secure 75% U.S. insurer coverage of Yeztugo by year-end and 90% coverage by June 2026. Its CEO, Daniel O'Day, has said that half of every dollar spent on medicines in the U.S. goes to PBMs and other entities that do not make drugs. U.S. government healthcare programs, including the Veterans Administration and the Medicare program for people over age 65, have already added Yeztugo to coverage lists. Gilead said earlier this month that several state-run Medicaid plans, including California and New York, were covering the drug. Gilead, its investors, and AIDS activists have high hopes for Yeztugo. Approved in June for people at high risk of HIV, the drug was shown to be nearly 100% effective at preventing infection in large trials, fueling fresh optimism about limiting the spread of HIV. Some analysts have warned that a recent Supreme Court ruling affirming broad HHS authority over the USPSTF could affect coverage prospects while Robert F. Kennedy Jr is in charge of the agency. Medical groups have expressed alarm about reports that Kennedy could replace members of the task force. The 16-member task force reviews evidence and public input, then recommends preventive services that catch disease early or prevent worsening, which insurers must cover without patient cost-sharing. For HIV prevention, it endorses daily PrEP pills Truvada, which is available as a generic, and Gilead's Descovy, as well as ViiV Healthcare's bimonthly shot Apretude. Gilead's O'Day has stressed that the lifetime cost of treating an HIV patient can exceed $1 million, making a preventive treatment cost effective. (Reporting By Deena Beasley; Editing by Patrick Wingrove and Diane Craft) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Hill
14 hours ago
- The Hill
CDC funding changes inject ‘chaos' into local health programs
The Trump administration has delayed or blocked millions of dollars in federal grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), leaving state and local health departments in the dark, uncertain when or even if they will get money that's already been appropriated by Congress for key public health initiatives. With little communication from the White House, CDC staff are trying to expedite getting grants out the door, and public health officials are scrambling to spend the money they have before it expires Sept. 30. The CDC typically doles out the money it receives from Congress to state and local health departments, which in turn fund local contracts. But with the start of the new administration, the White House began to apportion money to CDC on a month-by-month basis, citing the need for external reviews. That practice stopped when the agency received a two-month apportionment through the end of the fiscal year, according to CDC employees, but some grants were delivered late while others are still being blocked. 'Everything is weeks, if not months behind schedule,' a CDC employee with knowledge of the funding situation said. Another employee noted the extra layers involved in getting funding out the door, including new external reviews being conducted by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 'With every single award requiring DOGE review, there is fear the award may not be made before the end of the fiscal year and lapse of funds,' the employee said. Raynard Washington, director of the Mecklenburg County Public Health Department in North Carolina, said his agency laid off six workers — including half its disease investigators — after grants for HIV prevention and surveillance programs expired at the end of May with no information about future funding. The grants were eventually restored about a month later, but to date the department has only been able to bring back half of the people it laid off. 'So now we're behind, and cases are still being reported every day that have to be investigated,' Washington said. 'The more time that people may have been exposed to HIV and don't know it, or syphilis and don't know it and are getting tested and treated, those delays actually translate to potential illness.' Meanwhile, the Trump administration is preventing CDC from funding tens of millions of dollars in other awards, including for public health emergency preparedness, chronic disease prevention and education, academic prevention research centers, gun violence, and tobacco use. That means activities like training hospital staff and other health workers alongside first responders to prepare for a natural disaster are on hold. Washington said North Carolina had to lay off its team working on tobacco prevention efforts because the funding had dried up. 'These are not delays that we expect, given that Congress has appropriated funding for these initiatives,' Washington said. 'And these are things that — despite the political swings in Washington — have largely received bipartisan support, and so you don't expect that there was going to be gaps.' Philip Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services in Texas, said he was waiting for nearly 30 percent of the promised award for public health emergency preparedness. The state doesn't know if that money is ever coming, Huang said. 'So, it makes it very difficult for us to plan. And many health departments don't have much buffer. If you plan and keep everything fully operational with all your staff now, and then you don't get the [remaining funding], then you're not going to be able to last through the year,' Huang said. CDC centers are currently not allowed to move funding into the blocked programs, according to employees. If that money is not apportioned by Sept. 30, it could be returned to the Treasury, a maneuver known as a 'pocket rescission' that has drawn criticism from lawmakers in both parties. Congress in July approved the White House's official rescissions proposal to claw back $9 billion of funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. The White House would have to send another official rescission message to Congress, which Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought claims would effectively freeze the funding and cause it lapse. 'Effectively, what they're doing is keeping that money in house. We can't pull it down,' said Scott Harris, chief of the Alabama Department of Public Health and president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. 'We have grants that we thought we had access to, we suddenly have different rules about how we're allowed to spend.' Asked about the status of CDC grants, the Department of Health and Human Services referred The Hill to OMB, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Harris said the uncertainty is 'chaos' for health departments and makes it almost impossible to predict or plan for the future. 'We never really know month to month if a program's still going to be here anymore,' Harris said. 'We have serious concerns about whether all of the money that has been awarded will be spent before the end of the fiscal year. New instructions on which types of expenditures are allowable will prevent us from supporting much of the programmatic work that the grants are designed to fund.'
