HIV fight advances with new drug cocktails, fresh vaccine hopes quoting : Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Three decades after approval of the first-ever AIDS treatment, HIV medicine is seeing a new wave of innovation with scientists reporting positive data on Monday for improved drug cocktails and a novel experimental vaccine. For GSK, two-drug cocktails represent the future of HIV treatment, especially for the growing number of older patients who are more vulnerable to side effects from taking multiple medicines. FILE PHOTO: Dolutegravir pills used in the treatment of HIV are seen at the Kenyan ministry of heath offices in Nairobi, Kenya, June 27, 2017. Vaccine NeededUltimately, many experts believe a vaccine will be needed to shut down the threat from HIV, although decades of efforts to develop one have so far ended in disappointment. Both bictegravir and dolutegravir are so-called integrase inhibitors, a type of medicine that has proved extremely effective at blocking HIV.




The other HIV vaccine in human testing, the HVTN 702 candidate, is a newer version of the only other HIV vaccine to show any efficacy in humans, called RV144. (The other is the HVTN 702 HIV vaccine candidate, now underway in Thailand.) The mosaic approach seems promising in very early clinical researchIn the 35 years of the HIV epidemic, only four HIV vaccine concepts have been tested in humans. "A safe and effective HIV vaccine would be a powerful tool to reduce new HIV infections worldwide and help bring about a durable end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic," Fauci said in a statement. "One of the great challenges for development of HIV vaccine is viral diversity," said Dan Barouch, a lead researcher on the vaccine and director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

FDA recommends approval of new HBV vaccine for adults

FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 12 to one to recommend approval of the new Heplisav-B vaccine for hepatitis B today. Similarly, 95% of patients 40 to 70 years of age who received Heplisav-B achieved seroprotection compared with a rate of 79% in those who received Engerix-B. In the latest trial, 95% of patients 18 to 39 years of age who received Heplisav-B achieved seroprotection compared with a rate of 81% among those who received Engerix-B. The vaccine is indicated for adults 18 years and older. 147th Meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.


collected by :Lucy William

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