The quest to find a vaccine to cure AIDS

In honor of World AIDS Day, News Medical is honoring Dr. Larry Corey, an internationally renowned expert in the fields of virology, immunology and vaccine development, and former President and Director of Fred Hatch, on HIV/AIDS research. and vaccine development.

Please introduce yourself and tell us about your background in virology, immunology and vaccine development.

I’m Dr. Larry Corey. I am a professor at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. I am a trained virologist. I have worked in the field of HIV since the virus began to be recognized. Initially, I was the leader of his AIDS clinical trial group for the U.S. government specializing in antiviral chemotherapy. Early in my career, I was fortunate to be involved in the development of an effective antiviral drug for herpes virus infections, especially genital herpes, called acyclovir.

In the late 1990s, I switched my focus from therapy to trying to develop an HIV vaccine, and founded the HIV Vaccine Trials Network with my friend and colleague Tony Fauci. Together we developed an HIV vaccine and established a network of researchers working on the immunology of HIV across the United States. This was very formidable. This network is where perhaps 80-90% of the HIV vaccine clinical trials worldwide have taken place over the last two decades.

How do you think the field of HIV/AIDS research has changed this time around? How have patient outcomes changed?

HIV remains a pandemic disease. 1.4 million people are newly infected each year. Although the number of people living with AIDS continues to grow, it is still a complete storm. It is transmitted asymptomatically, transmitted asymptomatically, and transmitted from unsuspecting people. We need better prevention.

Antiretroviral drugs have saved more lives than any other medical procedure or group in the last 50 or 60 years. We have gone from a disease that killed us all to a disease that now allows us to live an essentially normal life if we take medicine. An amazing feat achieved in ten years.

HIV research has changed significantly and has become significantly more sophisticated. In the germ line he is cloning B cells. We are doing things that were unthinkable 40 years ago. Indeed, we need a vaccine to end AIDS and let my granddaughter grow up the way I grew up without worrying about AIDS.

Patient outcomes have changed significantly. you can live a normal life. But we don’t do that much intrusion into prevention. The reason is that there is no vaccine. When we look at how to prevent disease acquisition on a population basis, it’s only a vaccine.

Your lab is studying genetically engineered T cells to treat HIV-1. How have recent advances in cancer treatment impacted the treatment of HIV/AIDS? How can chronic viral infections be treated with immunological approaches?

In oncology, cells are used as antitumor agents for CAR T cells Treatment is the greatest advance. Laboratories have taken these approaches used in cancer and are looking to take them against HIV through these adopted metastasis experiments. So that’s our area of ​​interest at the moment.

You are also the Chief Scientist of the COVID-19 Prevention Network’s Fred Hatch-based Operations Center. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted HIV/AIDS research?

People working with HIV and infrastructure from HIV helped tackle COVID-19. Because the RNA used in the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is synthetic, experiments can be done more quickly. Also, by conducting early clinical trials, a vaccine can be created and administered to humans. From idea to jab up your arm, HIV doesn’t go as quickly as COVID-19. Still, it’s faster, and we’re optimistic that this RNA technology will help develop an HIV vaccine faster.

HVTN’s goal is to develop a safe and effective vaccine to prevent HIV worldwide. How close are we to achieving this goal? What does it mean to have an effective vaccine from a global perspective?

We are manufacturing these vaccines that broadly induce Neutralizing antibodyIf so, we’ll get there. Because we have already shown that broadly neutralizing antibodies can prevent the acquisition of HIV. The question is, now that we know what the target is, how do we get to it? You have to be optimistic. Miracles start in the lab.

The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is ‘Leveling’. What does this topic mean for you personally? What needs to be done to address inequalities and end AIDS?

Everyone wants to be healthy. I think Equalize is the perfect word for World AIDS Day. HIV will always be a disease of the weak.

But words have meaning and must be actionable. I think the word equalize is another name for how we implement our tools and make the most of the tools we have. COVID-19 teaches us that even if research invents a very good vaccine, the process of implementing this on a population basis is complex and requires equality between the haves and the have-nots. I was. The sociology and economics of health need to be leveled globally.

What’s next for yourself and your research?

I have my hands full trying to make an HIV vaccine.

Where can readers find more information?

About Dr. Larry Corey

Dr. Larry Corey is an internationally renowned expert in the fields of virology, immunology and vaccine development, and former director and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. His research focuses on herpes virus, HIV, novel coronaviruses, and other viral infections, including those associated with cancer. He is a principal investigator for the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), which conducts vaccine research. Under his leadership, HVTN has become a model for global collaboration. Dr. Corey is also the principal investigator of the Fred Hatch-based Operations Center for the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) and co-leads the network’s COVID-19 vaccine testing his pipeline. CoVPN is running his large Operation Warp Speed ​​portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines and monoclonal antibodies aimed at protecting people from COVID-19.

Dr. Corey is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received the Paran Prize for his work on HSV-2 and the Cubist Prize of the American Society for Microbiology for his work on antiviral drugs. , and the University of Michigan Medical School Distinguished Alumni Award. He is one of the most cited biomedical researchers of the last 20 years and author, co-author or editor of over 1000 scientific publications.