American scientists have come close to creating the most powerful HIV vaccine. Experiments on monkeys have shown that the drug can protect animals from four times the dose of the virus.
Created on the protein basis, the new HIV vaccine proved to be remarkably effective in blocking all known strains of the virus. According to researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida, this is a major step forward in the creation of new methods of prevention and treatment of AIDS.
ECD4-Ig drug uses gene therapy to introduce new DNA in healthy cells. During animal studies, monkeys were able to protect themselves from HIV, despite the injection of a four-time dose of the virus. Laboratory tests have shown that the drug works well against the human version of the virus.
The study author, Professor Michael Farzan, claims they managed to achieve long-term effective protection against HIV. Their drug is made from two receptor simulations or landing areas for the virus, which are the key to immune cells protection. They recreate the availability of this landing area, causing premature attachment of HIV to cells. But the virus extends only to the first stage in this case, and it really cannot get fixed in the cells.
Previous HIV vaccines have proved ineffective because the virus mutates too fast. The scientists hope to conduct tests on human beings as soon as possible. The researchers compared the effect of the drug with the door closing before the unwanted visitor and the key being thrown away.
