HS-HIV1
Current Status: Pre-Clinical Trial in Primates
Testing safety, prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy
The HS-System is under development as both a prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine to prevent against infection with HIV as well as to treat established infections. Similar to treating cancers, HeatShock-based therapy for HIV is designed to generate powerful immune responses by activating cytotoxic T cells. In contrast to HeatShock-based cancer therapy, HIV therapy with HeatShock leads to cytotoxic T cell responses that are specific for a number of HIV proteins. In this fashion, HeatShock can generate multiple HIV-specific immune responses at the same time; in effect accomplishing what it may otherwise take several drugs to do.
The current pre-clinical trial in non-human primates is the largest study of this kind ever funded by the National Institutes of Health, and is being conducted as a collaboration between the University of Miami and the Experimental Immunology Branch at the NIH. This study will determine the prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy of HeatShock therapy for HIV, and comes on the heels of a non-human primate feasibility study that demonstrated impressive, multi-specific cytotoxic T cell responses. Clinical responses demonstrated during the current preclinical trial will be rapidly translated to a Phase I Clinical Trial in humans, currently being planned.
About HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects over 50,000 Americans each year, and the number worldwide is many times greater. The HIV virus is particularly deadly because it targets and disables specific cells in the immune system, crippling an infected persons ability to fight off normal infections. In the developed world, HIV can now be effectively controlled with an intensive drug regimen known as 'highly active anti-retroviral therapy' (HAART). HAART therapy has saved hundreds of thousands of lives, but it is a toxic therapy to many patients, is far too expensive for many patients and only rarely leads to clearance of the HIV virus. This type of therapy is not currently available in parts of the world where HIV is most pervasive due to logistical and financial constraints. It is therefore an extremely high priority both at home and abroad that a vaccine be developed that can prevent against HIV infection and be readily distributed throughout the globe.
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