Eradicating HIV using a new, innovative cocktail Studies show that people living with HIV potentially have everything they need to eradicate it. However, this is only true when their immune system is able to detect the virus. This is why the CHUM teams are searching for solutions to eliminate viral reservoirs—cells in the body in which HIV hides, considered as the last obstacle to the eradication of this deadly virus. Their goal? Restore the immune system’s ability to detect and fight HIV.
“By combining two antibodies naturally present in the plasma of persons living with HIV to make a ‘can-opener’ molecule capable of exposing HIV to the immune system, we have succeeded in eliminating infected cells in a test using a humanized mouse model. We are the first in the world to test this innovative strategy, which is already generating great excitement worldwide!”
— Andrés Finzi, Ph.D., researcher at the CHUM research centre
In the cutting-edge facilities that you have helped build at the CHUM and thanks to your donations, Dr. Finzi’s team will intensify their research and refine their approach, particularly by building artificial intelligence into the process, together with better decision-support technologies. Their goal is to test this revolutionary solution—which has the potential to advance treatments considerably—in a clinical setting within the next 10 years at the CHUM.