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A small Norwegian biotechnology firm has said it had the first evidence of real promise in a new approach widely considered to be a potential cure for HIV, prompting both cautious optimism and skepticism from experts.
Eradicating HIV has long proven elusive because the virus lies dormant in so-called latent reservoirs deep in the body. That means that although current treatments have transformed the AIDS-causing virus from a deadly disease to a chronic condition by keeping the virus at bay in the bloodstream, they can’t completely clear it out of the body.
One approach thought to be a possible route to a cure, known as “kick and kill” or “shock and kill,” seeks to expose these latent HIV-infected cells so they can be cleared away by the immune system.
Bionor Pharma ASA, one of a number of companies pursuing this strategy, said its method had reduced the size of the latent HIV reservoir by an average of 40 percent across 17 patients.
The Oslo-based company treated patients with its own experimental immune-boosting treatment, called Vacc-4x, followed by three rounds of a drug already proven to awaken dormant cells infected with HIV. That drug, called romidepsin, is marketed by Celgene Corp. for certain forms of blood cancer.
Read full, original post: Norwegian Biotech Company Flags Evidence for Efficacy of “Kick and Kill” Efficacy Treatment