Weekly Injectable HIV Antibody Treatment Shows Promise

August 13, 2015

A weekly injection of an HIV antibody boasted a 98 percent success rate among participants in a small trial, Fox News reports. Researchers at the biotechnology company CytoDyn conducted a Phase IIb trial of the treatment, called PRO 140, as monotherapy among 40 HIV-positive participants.

PRO 140 works similarly to daily oral Selzentry (maraviroc), blocking HIV from connecting to the CCR5 coreceptor on the surface of CD4 cells. However, the weekly injectable is less toxic and has fewer side effects. 

Ninety-eight percent of the participants maintained virologic control for four weeks. Fourteen of the participants continued in the study through the six-month point. All of them maintained control of HIV. Some of them successfully maintained viral control for eight months on the treatment. 

CytoDyn is embarking on a Phase III trial of PRO 140 as a component of a combination regimen including daily antiretrovirals, and hopes to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017.

To read the Fox News report,  click here.

To read a press release on the research, click here.

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