The Antibody-Mediated Prevention (AMP) studies have demonstrated the potential of broadly neutralising antibody (bnAbs), given as infusion, for the prevention of HIV acquisition. Although the protective effect was limited to viruses sensitive to the antibody used in the study (VRC01), the studies provided the proof of concept that bnAbs could offer some protection against HIV acquisition and that a combination of bnAbs is likely needed to achieve broader protection. As vaccine efficacy studies aimed at triggering non-neutralising antibodies have been discontinued for lack of efficacy, eliciting bnAbs is now the goal of most research aimed at finding a safe and globally effective vaccine against a rapidly evolving HIV-1. In the cure field, infusion of bNAbs has shown promise as an alternative to anti-retroviral therapy against HIV. Although safe and able to suppress viral load in patients, mutations emerge leading to viral rebound. Interestingly for prevention, a combination of bnAbs have shown better results in non-human primate and human studies. A main obstacle to an HIV cure is the constitution of a viral reservoir in the very early stage of HV acquisition. Among various immunotherapy approaches, controlling or eliminating the HIV reservoir with bNAbs is the most speculative. Nevertheless, preclinical and anecdotal clinical observations suggest that bnAbs should be further explored in the clinic as part of a potential cure intervention. Convened by the IAS Corporate Partnership Programme (CPP), this satellite will explore how research and development of bnAbs for HIV prevention could contribute to the use of bnAbs in HIV cure strategies. Further, discussions will highlight how the prevention and cure fields could share research efforts to develop bnAbs and contribute to the development and testing of products that could benefit both fields.
25 July 2023
English
