Injection of antibodies, key against HIV

José Alcamí, a researcher at the National Microbiology Center of the Carlos III Health Institute and HIV expert, said that the closest future in the fight against AIDSsince a vaccine has not yet been developed, he goes through the injection of antibodies, a treatment that could have results from clinical trials on humans "within one to two years".

This was highlighted by Alcamí, after the official presentation of the International HIV Research Congress (HIVR4P) 2018, to be held in Madrid and will deal with the latest research on vaccines, preventive treatments, pre-exposure prophylaxis ( PrEP) and others. related AIDS prevention techniques.

More than 1,400 researchers, lawmakers and activists, with 138 oral presentations and 616 posters, will participate in this congress, which will be held for a total of five days in the Madrid capital. This is the first time this Congress travels to Europe.

We are very proud that Madrid and Spain have been chosen as the headquarters. In Spain, we are very committed to the fight against AIDS. This is a great recognition of the work done by many people in recent years, "said Alcamí.

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In its hundreds of presentations and meetings with the press, one of the central issues is to discuss the news of HIV prevention, which happens, according to Alcamí, coordinator of this event, injection of antibodys.

Today, we do not have an AIDS vaccine. In the first 10 or 15 years of the epidemic, we tried to develop prototypes that had worked in other vaccines, such as hepatitis B, which is very effective, but in the case of AIDS, that does not happen. not working, "said the expert, who acknowledged that researchers in this vaccine face a" completely different "problem from others.

That's because the AIDS virus "manages to escape immune system responses". "We are facing a new and very difficult problem," he admitted. However, he noted that over the last 10 years, research strategies on AIDS vaccines have been "completely changed."

Injection of antibodies

This new tactic goes through the antibodies. "What we've learned in recent years is that a vaccine always has to generate antibodies – in the case of HIV, what has been tested so far does not produce antibodies, but in the laboratory, we managed to generate them. We do not have the vaccine, but we have the ideal product of this vaccine", Alcamí detailed.

He added that now these antibodies can be manufactured "at a reasonable cost"And in fact, there are already" enough "trials going on to try to prevent infection by infusing these" good "antibodies every three or six months. of 4,500 patients who have already started testing this technique has recently been launched.The final results, according to Alcamí, will be published in "one or two years".

We know this is a very difficult task, but we have learned from our failures and now we know very well why the previous prototype vaccines we have designed have failed. This is one of the most important issues we will discuss throughout the Congress, "the researcher concluded.

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New impetus for the development of a vaccine

At the press conference, the director of operations of the Desmond Tutu Foundation and PrEP researcher Linda-Gail Bekker was also tasked with presenting a new five-year strategy for accelerate the development of a "safe and effective" vaccine against HIV, which was launched by the NGO Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, an alliance of many agents such as the International AIDS Society (IAS).

Gail-Bekker pointed out that is now "a critical moment" for the development of a "safe and effective vaccine"", For which" we must attract more private investment. "" We are still facing many challenges. We need greater collaboration from all entities, both through private funding and from governments, "he said.

In this regard, Alcamí stressed that "unfortunately", the European Union contributes 14.5 million euros to research on the development of this vaccine. "We are far from the figure to be able to get a vaccine," lamented researcher Carlos III Institute of Health.

The Global HIV Vaccine Enterpise's new strategy assesses current opportunities, challenges and barriers to the development of this vaccine, and provides a series of recommendations on next steps, based on: strengthen relations between the actors involved, expand and accelerate their development or develop their resources.

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With information from Europa Press.

RMT