Seventh man cured of HIV after stem cell transplant

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MUNICH - A stem cell transplant has cured an individual of HIV, a case study presented ahead of the 25th International AIDS Conference in Munich, Germany, has revealed.

Stem cells are cells produced by bone marrow that can turn into new blood cells.

A man, known as the "next Berlin Patient," received a stem cell transplant to treat his leukaemia and has been in HIV remission for over five years without antiretroviral treatment.

This case is significant because the donor had a single CCR5-delta32 mutation, which could have implications for future HIV cure strategies. This person becomes the seventh to have achieved this milestone since the AIDS epidemic began.

"A healthy person has many wishes, a sick person only one," Next Berlin Patient, who has preferred anonymity, says.

Dr Christian Gaebler, who during a webinar on July 18, 2024, presented the remarkable case of the "next Berlin Patient" on behalf of a team of clinicians, scientists and collaborators in Berlin, at the Charity University of Medicine, said the patient developed acute myelogenic leukaemia, which is a type of blood cancer, and was also diagnosed with HIV in 2009.

Dr. Christian Gaebler, who presented a remarkable case of the next Berlin Patient on behalf of our team of clinicians, scientists, and collaborators in Berlin, at the Charity University Medicine.

Despite the challenges in finding a suitable donor, the clinical team successfully performed the stem cell transplantation in 2015.

"The allogeneic stem cell transplantation went well, and was rather well tolerated," Dr Gaebler said. 

"It successfully treated the blood cancer and to our great surprise, it also effectively depleted the HIV reservoir," he added.

The patient discontinued antiviral treatment in 2018 and has been in treatment-free HIV remission for nearly six years.

"We've performed comprehensive HIV reservoir testing, including in blood and various tissues, and have found no signs of HIV," Gaebler said, adding: "HIV-specific antibody levels decreased since the transplantation, and HIV-specific T cell responses were undetectable".

The doctor said: "We believe that this remarkable case and the results of our studies really suggest that it is possible to cure HIV even when a functional receptor for the virus is present. It shows us that allogenic immunity plays a fundamental role in HIV eradication, beyond this rare delta 32 CCR5 mutation".

According to Sharon Lewin, the president of the International AIDS Society, "The next Berlin Patient's experience suggests that we can broaden the donor pool for these kinds of cases, although stem cell transplantation is only used in people who have another illness, such as leukaemia. This is also promising for future HIV cure strategies based on gene therapy because it suggests that we don't have to eliminate every single piece of CCR5 to achieve remission".

AIDS 2024 will officially kick off on 22nd -26 July 2024 and will bring together thousands of scientists, policymakers and advocates.

Importantly, this is the first HIV cure, in which the donor has had a single rather than double mutation in the CCR5 gene which could have promising implications.

Hosted by the International AIDS Society, AIDS 2024,  the 25th International AIDS Conference, will take place in Munich, Germany, and virtually from July 22 to 26, 2024.

It is expected to bring together thousands of scientists, policymakers and advocates to examine the latest advances in HIV research and forge a more equitable and innovative HIV response.

This year’s conference will call on the global HIV community to unite behind a simple principle: Put people first!

According to UNESCO, AIDS 2024 will convene thousands of people living with, affected by and working on HIV to share knowledge, best practices and lessons learnt from the HIV response over the past 40 years, as well as from the responses to COVID-19, mpox and other public health threats. It is also expected to provide a powerful platform to strategically align around a unified and equitable response to the pandemic.

It will signal to the world that the HIV response is united behind an evidence-based approach that puts people first.