AGT Develops Cure For HIV
A Maryland pharmaceutical company- American Gene Technologies claims they may have created a potential cure for HIV. AGT’s approach differs from other medical researchers’ attempts to cure HIV.
American Gene Technologies announced it filed a 1,000-page application with the FDA on Wednesday as scientists there believe they have created a gene therapy unlike any other.
American Gene Technologies (AGT), a Rockville-based medical research company, has submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA to begin gene therapy trials that researchers believe could eliminate HIV in people already living with the virus.
AGT Develops Cure For HIV- What is the potential treatment?
The drug—an HIV treatment program called AGT103-T—is a single-dose, lentiviral vector-based gene therapy that AGT says could remove infected cells from the body and decrease or eliminate the need for lifelong antiretroviral treatment in HIV-positive patients.
If approved, the company hopes to begin a Phase 1 clinical trial that will examine the safety of AGT103-T in humans.
In a statement, AGT chief science officer C. David Pauza, Ph.D., said the company’s objective is to treat HIV disease with an in
novative cell and gene therapy. This new approach will reconstitute immunity to HIV and will control virus growth in the absence of antiretroviral drugs.AGT Develops Cure For HIV- The Current Scenario
As the fight against HIV/AIDS wages on, communities at risk of contracting the virus continue to take preventative measures against new infections—including daily use of Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a potentially life-saving HIV prevention drug is very popular in the US.
In the United States, PrEP is pretty much exclusively available as Truvada, its brand-name version manufactured by Gilead Sciences with a very high retail markup.
