New HIV vaccination?

[bberik]

Seems like a small company in Norway can come up with a new vaccine to kill HIV virus, taken after you get infected:

http://e24.no/boers-og-finans/norsk-selskap-skal-loese-hiv-gaaten/23229695

The article is in Norwegian, but the Norwegian language works pretty well with google translator, so you should be able to read it.

Interesting article.

[bottombottoy]

To bad there is more than just one strain of HIV

[Guest JizzDumpWI]

Post infection vaccination is an oxymoron... Vaccine intent is to prevent infection. If you are infected already, a vaccination won't help. Did you perhaps mean post exposure, in which case this might be a form of PEP?

[jtonic]

bberik : thanks for sharing the article.

I heard of this development last week, from my clinic in Montreal no less (excellent ID doctor). The staff are all buzzing. They are opening this protocol to actual patients in a few months. If my test results don't show abnormalities (drug resistance or dangerously low CD4 count), they might give me a choice to join this protocol and bypass ARV medication completely.

It's called Vacc-4X. In the field of HIV ARV treatment, it's considered the latest / cutting-edge development.

It's not preventive (pre-exposure). It's not for post-exposure either. It's aimed squarely at HIV-poz.

Trials, such as the one conducted by Bionor, have shown that a regular shot of Vacc-4X can safely and reliably replace ARV pills - completely. That means it is capable of reducing a viral load to the same (or lower) undetectable level than would be achieved with current ARV medication.

Although it is not yet a cure for HIV, it's a welcome development. In the future, you could potentially get a single Vacc-4X shot as part of a regular health checkup (just like a flu shot, but every 3 months), then go home and forget about it. Imagine; no pills to take every day, and you'd still be undetectable.

I'm so thankful for research and breakthroughs like that.

[totalasspig]

Sounds good about Vacc-4X. I'd rather got a shot in the ass every three months then take pills each day. Hopefully it will cover everything - the hard part with HIV is that is different in every single person.

[TigerMilner]

bberik : thanks for sharing the article.

I heard of this development last week, from my clinic in Montreal no less (excellent ID doctor). The staff are all buzzing. They are opening this protocol to actual patients in a few months. If my test results don't show abnormalities (drug resistance or dangerously low CD4 count), they might give me a choice to join this protocol and bypass ARV medication completely.

It's called Vacc-4X. In the field of HIV ARV treatment, it's considered the latest / cutting-edge development.

It's not preventive (pre-exposure). It's not for post-exposure either. It's aimed squarely at HIV-poz.

Trials, such as the one conducted by Bionor, have shown that a regular shot of Vacc-4X can safely and reliably replace ARV pills - completely. That means it is capable of reducing a viral load to the same (or lower) undetectable level than would be achieved with current ARV medication.

Although it is not yet a cure for HIV, it's a welcome development. In the future, you could potentially get a single Vacc-4X shot as part of a regular health checkup (just like a flu shot, but every 3 months), then go home and forget about it. Imagine; no pills to take every day, and you'd still be undetectable.

I'm so thankful for research and breakthroughs like that.

Is'nt that exciting. See, we told you you were gonna be ok.

[jtonic]

Is'nt that exciting. See, we told you you were gonna be ok.

It's exciting. But I still wish for a cure.

I'm actually thinking of getting involved with an organization to push for more funding and research.

ID doctors are very vocal about the pursuit for a cure; we don't have to stop at Vacc-4X or PrEP.

[Guest JizzDumpWI]

Clearly Vacc-4x is not a vaccination but rather an alternative ARV treatment. Great news and interesting - but for now PrEP the only preventative (for now).

[VersatileBreeder]

I got as far as "tror på gjennormbrudd." Unfortunately, Norwegian is not one of the four languages I am proficient in.... Maybe I'll check it out with Google Translate later. Until then, I'll take your word that it's a good article. There is hope for the future

[Poz1956]

We've been down this road many a time. New wonder compound X will put an end to the pain and suffering of HIV. Early excessive enthusiasm and optimism end in disappointment. It's ok to be hopeful, just don't get too excited until there is enough data to prove that it works.

Jizz, they call it a therapeutic vaccination. It is an actual class of therapy. There are a number of them for different diseases (Hep C for example).

This was a Phase II trial with a very small number of people. Phase I trials are "Is it safe, or does it kill you." Phase II trials are "Which dose produces the desired effect." Phase III trials, with a large number of participants are where they figure out "Does it work." Good results from a Phase III trial are the appropriate time to get excited. (I was a participant in Phase II and Phase III trials for one of the ARVs that are still part of my regime.)

Let me give you a quick synopsis of this research. They wanted 345 participants, but got only 137. All the patients started with an undetectable viral load (<50). 93 got the vaccination and 43 got the placebo. Only 77 people completed the study (56 from the vaccinated group & 25 from the placebo). You can already see that the number of people is way to small to get excited about.

The participants received the vaccination (or placebo), and then continued ARV therapy for 28 weeks. They stopped taking their antiretrovirals. Unsurprisingly their viral loads when up. Similar to undiagnosed people in the chronic phase of an HIV, their viral loads eventually stabilized at their personal "set point." People were taken off the study and restarted their ARVs early, if their CD4 counts dropped by half, or fell below 350 (which accounts for the drop from 137 people starting, to the 77 at the end). At week 48 the median viral load of the placebo group was was 71,800 while for the Vacc-4x group it was 23,100. At week 52 the median for the placebo group was 51,000 and the Vacc-4x group median was 19,500. At week 52 all the participants started taking ARV's again.

Yes, there is a statistically significant difference between the median viral loads of the two groups. Yes, there was a statistically significant difference in set points, for the people who's files contained historical viral load tests, from before they started taking antiretrovirals. But the vaccine had a strong effect in only 25% of the people who received it. These results are not something I would get excited about.

I don't really consider viral loads moving from undetectable, to the levels shown in this study, a great success. A viral load above 1,500 is considered infectious (some even think it's 1,000). Ask the neg guys (even the one's on PrEP) if they want to play with a guy whose viral load is 19,500 - 23,100.

What bbreik linked to appears to be an article in a business magazine, with heavy emphasis on the stock market. Google Translate produces this version of that web page. This is Bionor Pharma’s press release in English.

Here is the abstract for the research published in the Lancet article on the Vacc-4x. The Beta Blog had a small piece on it. Vacc-4x rated a single paragraph on AIDS Map, in a report from CROI 2012. I consider AIDS Map one of the best sources for information about HIV research.

This trial is considered a proof of concept for ideas that may lead to a "functional cure." A functional cure means you still have HIV hiding someplace in your body, but your system keeps it under control, and not duplicating, without the need of antiretrovirals. That goal is considered achievable at some point in the future. The dream of a "sterilizing cure" where HIV is totally gone, is just that -- A Dream.

33 patients from the the first trial are currently enrolled in the Company’s Phase II Vacc-4x Reboost trial which investigates whether, upon booster immunizations, the viral load can be reduced even further on a second treatment interruption.

Hope is a good thing. It helps us move forward, and lets us get on with our lives. Just temper it with a realistic view of the future.