Researchers have revealed on Thursday the invention of a universal antibody drug against HIV and AIDS that can "kill Two birds with one stone".
The research team led by scientists of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), made the disclosure at a news conference.
The researchers discovered that by engineering a tandem Bi-specific Broadly Neutralising Antibody (bNAb), this novel antibody drug is universally effective not only against all genetically divergent global HIV-I strains tested, but also promoting the elimination of latently infected cells in a humanised mouse model,
The single gene-encoded tandem bNAb titled “BiIA-SG” strategically ambushes invading HIV-I particles to protect CD4 positive T cells by attaching to host protein CD4.
BiIA-SG not only displays a potent activity against all three panels of 124 genetically divergent global HIV-I strains tested, but also prevents diverse live viral challenges completely in humanized mice.
Moreover, gene transfer of BiIA-SG achieves pro-longed drug availability in vivo, leading to a promising efficacy of eliminating HIV-I infected cells in humanised mice.
The team stated that with significantly improved breadth and potency, BiIA-SG will hopefully be the first “made in Hong Kong” anti-HIV-I antibody drug for clinical development.
