BOSTON — Government scientists have identified two human antibodies they think can prevent 90 percent of known HIV strains from infecting cells, the National Institutes of Health announced Thursday.
According to the agency, NIH scientists think the two antibodies can be harnessed to create more potent HIV vaccines or better treatments for the condition.
“The discovery of these exceptionally broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV and the structural analysis that explains how they work are exciting advances that will accelerate our efforts to find a preventive HIV vaccine for global use,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which conducted the research.
The scientists identified the two antibodies as VRC01 and VRC02.
Laboratory studies showed that the antibodies could neutralize a larger number of HIV strains with greater efficiency than antibodies that had previously been identified.
Details from the study were published Thursday in the online edition of the research journal Science.
Preventive sought
AIDS is final stage: HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus, can systematically destroy the human body’s ability to fight off infection and disease. The final stage of HIV infection is known as AIDS.
No commercial vaccine: Several pharmaceutical companies have tried to develop HIV vaccines over the years, but so far, no vaccine has been able to reach the commercialization stage. HIV is treated with a variety of anti-viral medications.
