Infectious Disease Frontier

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly extended the lifespan and improved the quality of life for HIV-infected individuals, yet achieving a complete cure for HIV remains an unresolved challenge. HIV's characteristic of latent infection allows it to persist in the body, hidden from the immune system, and reactivate upon cessation of ART. Thus, developing a curative therapy capable of entirely eliminating the virus from the body and achieving long-term virus-free survival is a critical need in medical science. At the recent 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024), Infectious Disease Frontier had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Afam A. Okoye from the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University. He provided insights into the research highlights in the field of HIV curative therapies at the conference and shared his views on cutting-edge technologies such as latency reversing agents, cytokine research, and gene editing.

Islatravir is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor (NRTTI) currently under development, while lenacapavir belongs to a new class of capsid inhibitors, both featuring long half-lives and highlighted as part of long-acting treatment strategies. Previously, the clinical development of islatravir was temporarily halted due to adverse events involving reductions in CD4 cells and lymphocytes. However, after dose adjustments, the combined use with lenacapavir in a phase 2 trial revealed positive outcomes at the recent CROI conference, promising the first all-oral weekly treatment plan for HIV patients. Infectious Disease Frontier interviewed Dr. Amy Colson, the study's Principal Investigator and Director of Research at the Community Resource Initiative, at the event.