ITM researchers have been working on a “functional” cure for HIV infection for a long period of time. They recently validated a range of assays with which they can identify patients in whom the viral reservoir is low enough to safely interrupt antiviral treatment and which consequently may lead to a natural control of HIV infection.  The researchers are pursuing this historic breakthrough in HIV treatment in a phase I/II clinical trial.

Analytical treatment interruption in HIV positive patients with low viral reservoir to evaluate the potential of a functional cure

Principal investigator

• Eric Florence (Department of Clinical Sciences)

Co-promoter

• Guido Vanham (Department of Biomedical Sciences)

IWT budget

• € 977,462

Key facts

• This project is developed within the global frame of finding a “functional” cure for HIV infection, i.e. a long-term control of HIV-1 replication and disease progression in the absence of treatment.
• There is a growing body of evidence that stopping treatment in a carefully selected population may not only be safe, but also lead to a natural control of HIV infection.
• ITM researchers and others have reported that post-treatment control (PTC) is associated with an extremely low HIV reservoir before interrupting treatment, the absence of HIV transcription and possibly a low viral fitness.
• Unfortunately these cases were retrospective and/or discovered by chance. A systematic prospective study to better understand this phenomenon of PTC remains absent.