American Gene Technologies issued the following announcement on Dec. 21.
Data from the First Three Patients Shows Critical Efficacy Markers of the HIV Cure Cell Therapy: Engraftment, Persistence, and Function of Infused Cells
American Gene Technologies (AGT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company working to cure HIV, announced that it has reached two important milestones for its HIV cure program.
All three patients achieved engraftment of the genetically modified cell product, AGT103-T, and avoided rejection of the infused cells. In addition, patient samples were challenged to determine if their HIV-specific response remained active. All three products demonstrated an active response. These two studies confirm that the patients retained an appropriate concentration of the product and indicate AGT103-T should be able to create an effective immune response against HIV in the absence of antiretroviral treatment (ART).
“This is an incredibly exciting milestone in our clinical trial,” said AGT CEO Jeff Galvin. “We demonstrated our theory in pre-clinical tests in cell models, and published encouraging data in Molecular Therapy Magazine. Now we’re seeing blood markers in trial participants that indicate parallel data in vivo.”
This augments the safety data already established in the human trial with initial objective markers of efficacy in the participants’ blood tests. The probative data is still to come in treatment withdrawal studies, which are planned to begin in the first half of 2022. AGT continues to hope to see a functionally cured patient by next summer that durably suppresses their HIV without the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART). The company remains optimistic that its work may allow people living with HIV to go off ART without fear of developing AIDS or infecting others, and without the risk of reinfection.
Original source can be found here.
Source: American Gene Technologies
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