What is expected from the HIV conference?

By Hilary Bainemigisha

The world is waiting for good news as scientists and researchers gather in Cape Town, South Africa for the HIV prevention conference. The conference which kicked off today Oct 28, is the world’s only global science meeting dedicated exclusively to biomedical HIV prevention research. It brought together 1,313 researchers, advocates, clinicians, policy makers, private sector and public health partners from 48 countries to discuss the science of preventing HIV transmission and multiplication.

After four days of discourse, hundreds of new research and round table discussions, HIV advocates and implementers will be expecting some hope on the new remedies, researches and strategies that will be recommended. Some of the exciting areas include the following.

Advances in vaccine development

Glenda Gray of the South African Medical Research Council will be presenting results from the study of an HIV vaccine, the RV144, which has been tested among South Africans. RV144 was the first HIV vaccine to demonstrate a modest level of protection of 34% against infection when it was studied in volunteers in Thailand. The research is the first to report on the impact of the vaccine in other populations. According to Gray, the vaccine candidate produced immune responses in South African volunteers that were at least comparable to or better than those induced in the Thai study. This is promising news in the effort to develop a globally effective HIV vaccine, she said.

Advances in microbicide development

The potential of microbicides containing HIV antiretroviral drugs to prevent infection with herpes simple virus (HSV2) is being explored in a study that will be presented by Dr Jeanne Marazzo of the University of Washington, US. In the analysis of a previous HIV study, it was discovered that the participants reduced their risk for HSV-2 infection by 50% using the vaginal tenofovir gel that was not intended to treat herpes. HSV-2 is a common infection in sub-Saharan Africa, which increases the risk of HIV transmission and acquisition.

Advances in ARVs for prevention

Ian McGowan of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, US said they are working on a product to produce a long lasting ARV which people can take once and get protected for about a week. Referring to it as the MWRI-01 study, the doctor says they are studying an intra-muscular TMC278 LA (injectable) among 36 people and so far, it had proved safe and well-tolerated. The next stage will be to try it over a wider range of people. Multiple dosing studies of this promising, long-acting approach to HIV protection are now planned.

William Spreen of GlaxoSmithKline (US) will also present the findings of a second study of the potential of injectable drugs hoped to provide more durable protection against HIV infection. The GSK1265744 is a long-acting injectable being given to monkeys once a week to protect them from acquiring their version of HIV. Initial studies are showing that it was safe and provided a level of drug that is predicted to provide robust protection against HIV infection.  Ongoing animal studies are exciting and a precursor to possible future human study of this new approach to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

Among the cutting edge topics on the conference agenda are:

•       the prospects for new, long-lasting prevention options

•       the latest HIV antibody discoveries and their implications for vaccine development

•       research into microbicides and other female-controlled prevention methods

•       the use of antiretroviral therapy to reduce HIV infection and transmission

•       the potential for multipurpose prevention technologies, which could block HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, or prevent pregnancy, simultaneously; and

•       the behavioural and adherence challenges of prevention.