Breakthroughs Blog: HIV/AIDS

An international research team led by the University of Liverpool has discovered an exciting new class of antibiotics with the potential to target some of the world’s most dangerous multidrug-resistant bacteria, including MRSA and Enterococcus faecium, as experts continue to warn of the growing global threat of antimicrobial resistance. The new class, Novltex, targets a key component of bacterial cell walls that does not mutate, meaning that, unlike traditional antibiotics, it could offer long-lasting protection against antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Novltex is a synthetically designed platform, making it cheaper to produce and easier to scale up for global use than common antibiotics that utilize complex, expensive natural molecules. In studies so far, researchers found Novltex to be potent and fast-acting, even at low doses, and safe. A research team led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine has been awarded a five-year, $20.8 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the US National Institutes of Health to further the preclinical development of a promising experimental HIV vaccine for pediatric populations. Experts agree that a preventive vaccine for HIV could help turn the tide of the pandemic. Previous studies of the experimental vaccine found that it was safe and may be effective in infants, although it seems to only work in young immune systems, not in adults. The new funding will support optimization of the vaccine in preparation for clinical trials in infants in parts of the world with a high burden of HIV. Researchers at Tulane University have designed an optimized CRISPR-based tuberculosis (TB) test that uses a simple tongue swab, which, if it continues to demonstrate promise, could be a breakthrough for TB testing. Current TB tests often rely on sputum, which can be difficult to collect and which not everyone can produce, and require sophisticated laboratory equipment and skilled health care workers, leading to gaps in diagnosis, particularly in low-resource settings. The researchers built on a previous CRISPR-based TB test, developing an assay that they found to be highly effective using tongue swabs and also highly sensitive in detecting TB in respiratory, pediatric stool, and spinal fluid samples. This painless and low-resource method could improve access to TB testing, particularly at the point of care in remote and low-resource communities. 

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. A new study from a team at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine found that the drug nitisinone works as a potent contact insecticide for killing the mosquito species that spread malaria, dengue, Zika, and other emerging mosquito-borne viral threats, offering hope of a new approach to combating insecticide resistance. Nitisinone, which is currently used to treat a rare genetic condition in humans, kills mosquitoes by blocking an enzyme that is necessary for them to process human blood, which is not a pathway targeted by any currently used insecticides. The research suggests that the drug could be formulated for use in indoor residual spraying or insecticide-treated bed nets, helping eliminate mosquitoes even in settings where rising insecticide resistance has undermined the effectiveness of current vector control methods.Early last week, the Gates Foundation announced a $2.5 billion commitment through 2030 to accelerate research and development on women’s health. Specifically, the funding will help advance more than 40 innovations in five critical areas: obstetric care and maternal immunization, maternal health and nutrition, gynecological and menstrual health, contraceptive innovation, and sexually transmitted infections. These areas were selected based on extensive data about where innovation can save and improve the most lives and where there are persistently high rates of misdiagnosis, as well as direct insights from women in low- and middle-income countries about their needs, preferences, and challenges.Last week, IAVI; the Mutala Trust; ReiThera; and the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University announced that the first doses of an investigational HIV vaccine candidate were administered in their Phase 1, first-in-human clinical trial. The clinical trial is taking place at three sites in Zimbabwe and South Africa among 120 healthy adults, including people living with HIV. Carrying out the trial in sub-Saharan Africa, which faces the highest disease burden, will help ensure the vaccine is effective and relevant in the communities where it is most needed. The vaccine candidate is designed to stimulate the immune system, particularly CD8+ T cells, to recognize and target critical structural regions of the virus. Scientists believe CD8+ T cells could potentially target HIV-infected cells, so the trial will also assess whether the vaccine candidate could be part of future therapeutic or cure technologies.

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. Scientists have launched the first-ever library of adjuvants, which are substances that boost the ability of vaccines to create stronger, longer-lasting immunity. The repository, which will be housed at the United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and funded and led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, will include 25 adjuvants available for use in developing new vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats. The library will act as a matchmaking service, helping developers select the best suited adjuvants to increase the effectiveness and potency of their vaccines. The project is intended to support the 100 Days Mission, an ambitious global effort to develop vaccines against newly emerging threats in as few as 100 days.A new study has found that delivering a single gene therapy injection at birth could offer years-long protection against HIV. In the study, non-human primates who received the therapy within their first month of life saw protection for at least three years without the need for a booster—a potential signal that protection could last into adolescence in humans—, while those treated at 8-12 weeks saw a less effective immune response. The immune system is naturally more tolerant within a person’s first weeks of life, so it marks an optimal window for gene treatment that could be rejected at an older age. While questions remain as to whether these findings will translate to human infants and children, if successful, this treatment could offer a “one-and-done” multiyear solution to protect again mother-to-child HIV transmission that could be more cost-effective and feasible to implement in low-resource settings worldwide.The antiparasitic drug ivermectin was found to reduce the incidence of malaria by 26 percent in a trial conducted in Kenya, a finding that demonstrates its potential use for mass drug administration alongside other malaria control interventions. Invermectin is a drug commonly used to treat parasitic diseases like onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, but scientists have been exploring its potential in malaria prevention, given the rise in insecticide resistance, which has rendered other prevention tools like insecticide-treated bednets and indoor residual spraying less effective. The trial, which involved more than 20,000 participants, compared the drug, administered in a single monthly dose for three months during the rainy season, with the antiparasitic albendazole—both alongside use of existing bed nets. It is the largest study of ivermectin for malaria conducted to date.

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. Last week, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and AN2 Therapeutics announced a new collaboration to advance clinical development of AN2’s oral drug candidate for the treatment of chronic Chagas disease, which can remain asymptomatic for years while the infection wreaks irreversible damage in the body, potentially leading to the development of life-threatening conditions. The drug candidate, AN2-502998, is currently being tested in a Phase 1 first-in-human clinical study, scheduled for later in 2025, with a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study expected to commence next year. The partnership will leverage DNDi’s established network of clinical trial sites throughout Latin America and Spain, established through its previous Chagas clinical trial work.A team of researchers shared last week that they have developed a special kind of floss that could serve as a vaccine delivery method, delivering proteins and inactive viruses to the gums and triggering immune responses that can protect against infectious disease. While scientists have long been investigating alternatives to syringes like oral and nasal vaccine delivery methods, a challenge they’ve come across is that the mouth and nose have naturally tough defenses against foreign molecules. The flossing approach overcomes this challenge by targeting the pockets of gum between the teeth that are better at absorbing molecules. The approach proved successful in mice in multiple tests where researchers coated the floss in protein and inactive flu virus, and researchers have also tested the feasibility in humans, finding positive results. Further research will help determine if the technique will work in humans with a wide variation in gum health, including people with gum disease.Study results presented at the recent International AIDS Society Conference in HIV Science found that more than half of people living with HIV who received a pair of broadly neutralizing antibodies plus the drug N-803 experienced delayed viral rebound or maintained a low or suppressed viral load during interruption from antiretroviral treatment. While antiretroviral treatment can keep HIV suppressed indefinitely, the long-lasting viral reservoir maintained in the body has confounded researchers efforts to eliminate it, putting a cure out of reach. A small proportion of individuals naturally make unique broadly neutralizing antibodies that target key parts of the virus, which researchers have been trying to replicate with a manufactured drug. N-803, which is approved as a treatment for bladder cancer and is being studied in both cancer and HIV research, appears to be able to both reactivate dormant HIV and clear the virus out of hiding. Further research and an analysis across studies testing the approach will help confirm the underlying mechanisms of the effects researchers are seeing and determine whether the drug could be part of a future cure.