Hope for HIV Cure Grows After Man Declared Virus-Free

Doctors announced on Thursday that a 60-year-old German man may be the seventh person effectively cured of HIV after undergoing a stem cell transplant.

This difficult and risky procedure is reserved for individuals with both HIV and aggressive leukemia, making it unsuitable for the vast majority of the nearly 40 million people living with HIV globally.

The German man, who chose to remain anonymous, has been referred to as the “next Berlin patient.” The original Berlin patient, Timothy Ray Brown, was the first person declared cured of HIV in 2008 and passed away from cancer in 2020.

Second Berlin Patient’s Long-Term HIV Remission Announced Ahead of 25th International AIDS Conference

The announcement of this second Berlin patient’s long-term HIV remission comes just before the 25th International AIDS Conference in Munich next week.

Diagnosed with HIV in 2009, the man underwent a bone marrow transplant for leukemia in 2015, a procedure that carries a 10 percent risk of death and effectively replaces the immune system.

Patient Remains HIV-Free Nearly Six Years After Discontinuing Anti-Retroviral Drugs

He stopped taking anti-retroviral drugs in late 2018, and nearly six years later, he appears to be free of both HIV and cancer.

While Christian Gaebler, a doctor-researcher at Berlin’s Charite university hospital, notes that they cannot be completely certain that every trace of HIV has been eradicated, he emphasizes that the case strongly suggests an HIV cure. The patient is feeling well and is eager to support ongoing research efforts.

Sharon Lewin, President of the International AIDS Society, explained that researchers are reluctant to label the condition a “cure” due to uncertainty about the required follow-up period. Nonetheless, she indicated at a press conference that being in remission for over five years suggests the man is “close” to being considered cured.

New Patient Received Stem Cells from Donor with One Mutated CCR5 Gene

She noted a key distinction between this man’s case and those of other HIV patients who have achieved long-term remission. Most of the other patients received stem cells from donors with a rare mutation in the CCR5 gene, which prevents HIV from entering cells. These donors had inherited two copies of the mutated gene, making them “essentially immune” to HIV.

In contrast, the new Berlin patient is the first to receive stem cells from a donor with only one copy of the mutated gene.

About 15 percent of people of European descent carry one mutated copy, compared to just one percent for those with two copies. Researchers are hopeful that this success will expand the potential donor pool in the future.

The new case is also “promising” for the broader search for an HIV cure applicable to all patients, Lewin said, as it suggests that eliminating every single piece of CCR5 may not be necessary for gene therapy to be effective.

Additionally, the Geneva patient, who received a transplant from a donor without any CCR5 mutations, is another exception who achieved long-term remission.

Lewin explained that this demonstrated the procedure’s effectiveness was not solely attributable to the CCR5 gene.

Read the original article on: Science Alert

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