Sunday, September 6, 2009

Found: Antibodies to target HIV more effectively


The discovery of two powerful new HIV antibodies will help tackle HIV more effectively. Researchers will now try to exploit a newfound vulnerability on the virus to craft novel approaches to designing an AIDS vaccine.

Besides, the global collaboration that led to the discovery of the two new broadly neutralising antibodies (bNAbs) are likely to produce more such antibodies.

They may further reveal additional vulnerabilities of HIV, adding still more vitality to the effort to develop a vaccine against AIDS.

“The findings themselves are an exciting advance toward the goal of an effective AIDS vaccine because now we’ve got a new, potentially better target on HIV to focus our efforts for vaccine design,” said Wayne Koff, senior vice-president of research and development at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), Scripps Research Institute.

“And having identified this one, we’re set up to find more, which should further accelerate global efforts in AIDS vaccine development,” he added, according to a statement from the institute.

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