Scientists announce anti-HIV agent so powerful it can work in a vaccine

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150218073059.htm

In a remarkable new advance against the virus that causes AIDS, scientists from the Jupiter, Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have announced the creation of a novel drug candidate that is so potent and universally effective, it might work as part of an unconventional vaccine.

Exciting news.

I wonder, who is going to be the bigger problem, the religious right saying it's a vaccine to make people gay, the bug chasers saying it's a gift and not a disease, or the medical system charging some exorbitant price for it and making sure it won't be covered by insurances due to some reason they can come up with.

Quote by Tlek

I wonder, who is going to be the bigger problem, the religious right saying it's a vaccine to make people gay, the bug chasers saying it's a gift and not a disease, or the medical system charging some exorbitant price for it and making sure it won't be covered by insurances due to some reason they can come up with.

The FDA is going to be the biggest problem. It's going to take at least 10 to 15 years with all the red tape that has to be gone through. With the different demographics affected by HIV/AIDS these days, only the extreme fringe of the right wing would be stupid enough to say that it'll allow people to be gay. They say stupid stuff like it now so no one will really pay them any mind.

Since it'll be a vaccine instead of a "treatment", the multibillion dollar pharmaceutical industry will be slow to pick it up. But eventually a company will. They'll charge those in the U.S. hundred if not thousands for it while everyone outside of the U.S. will pay pennies on the dollar.

Quote by Baothezar

I wanted to know how long the protection last and whether or not that if you were exposed while on the treatment would infection still happens after the effects wore off.

That's the part that has me worried. Its going to be a long while before we can gauge this thing's longterm efficacy. The article says its expected duration will last for years, perhaps decades though.

Quote by Baothezar

Annyywayys. From my understanding of the article, the proposed treatment uses a modified virus that use the machinery of cells to create mimic receptors that would bind onto the virus and render it inert. So this isn't a traditional "Vaccine" where it would use attenuated viruses to stimulate the body to produce antibodies against the real thing. I wanted to know how long the protection last and whether or not that if you were exposed while on the treatment would infection still happens after the effects wore off. My thought on this was that what if we were able to simply produce the mimic receptors with out the use of virus?

From what i gathered, they're using the engineered virus as a delivery to target the specific receptors. Ideally, yeah, i agree getting the virus part out of there would probably sit better with everyone, but im hoping its just a mode of delivery engineered in virus form.


I could also foresee a lot of medical tourism for this if it isn't insured in the US/crazy cost prohibitive. At the same time, if you aren't at risk (though risk factors are seemingly decreed arbitrarily), you wouldn't end up needing it.

Working in a pharmacy I've learned one thing. Insurance companies will go out of the way to say no to a patient. It's utterly heartbreaking to say the medication you need isn't covered, that treatment will be expensive or out of reach, that they don't have a right to feel better. That being said it's way to early to determine if it will be covered or not.

Quote by Baothezar

Annyywayys. From my understanding of the article, the proposed treatment uses a modified virus that use the machinery of cells to create mimic receptors that would bind onto the virus and render it inert. So this isn't a traditional "Vaccine" where it would use attenuated viruses to stimulate the body to produce antibodies against the real thing. I wanted to know how long the protection last and whether or not that if you were exposed while on the treatment would infection still happens after the effects wore off. My thought on this was that what if we were able to simply produce the mimic receptors with out the use of virus?

Not a modified virus; a completely new virus that they just created for this treatment. The only thing that is carried within is the DNA for the modified compound that binds to the HIV Virus. This is a Recombinant Vector Vaccine.

The article states that the recombinant vector is injected into muscle tissue which is then used to replicate the modified compound. If that's the case, then the the vaccine would last as long as the muscle did. Skeletal muscle generally last about 15 years. After the modified protein has bonded to the virus, it would relatively be inert meaning the immune system would remove it or the kidneys would be able to filter it from the blood easily. You wouldn't be infected by the virus later on.