Single Gene Therapy Shot Protects Newborn Monkeys From HIV For At Least Three Years, Study Finds

HealthDay (7/31, Mundell) reports a study found that “a single shot of gene therapy given to newborn monkeys appears to shield them from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, for at least three years.” Researchers noted that the findings hinge “on the notion that in the first few weeks of a primate’s life – humans are primates, too – the body’s immune system is naturally more tolerant of ‘invaders,’ including gene therapies.” Nevertheless, it is unclear if it will work in human infants “since it’s possible infants might be less amenable than monkeys to therapies that are delivered via AAV, the team said. The monkey trial also used only one strain of simian-human immunodeficiency virus, which is similar in some ways to HIV but may not reflect the variety of circulating strains of HIV strains.” The study was published in Nature.