May 27, 2021 | Meredith Cohn
A week ago, a Washington, D.C., man in his 30s with HIV became the first person to be infused with a heaping load of his own genetically modified cells that a Maryland biotech firm believes one day could lead to the elusive cure for the disease.
The company, Rockville-based American Gene Technologies, plans to announce the infusion today, the first of an initial six people who will receive “super T cells” in coming months.
It’s an early step in a trial primarily aimed to test for safety. But officials say it marks the next phase in years of study building on their own and others’ research into how to keep the virus from killing a person’s T cells that normally fight off infections.
“There is no guarantee, of course,” said Jeff Galvin, the company’s CEO and founder. “But there are a lot of things happening to give people hope that this product may be the functional cure or a subsequent product may be the cure.”
There are almost 38 million people globally and 1.1 million Americans living with HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, which if left untreated can lead to AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and a host of health maladies.
There are dozens of studies underway across the globe deploying a variety of technologies to cure or better control chronic HIV infections without people having to take daily antiretroviral drugs that can come with side effects and fear of uncontrolled illness.
American Gene Technologies’ method involves taking T cells out of a person’s blood and genetically modifying them in the lab to resist infection before they are reinfused.
C. David Pauza is the company’s chief science officer and a former professor and researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute for Human Virology.
He said the company’s beginning point — fixing T cells— isn’t new. Past efforts were not powerful enough or long-lasting enough to be considered a functional cure, where people can live disease-free indefinitely with medications even if there is still virus lingering in their bodies.
Pauza said researchers enhanced the process of modifying the T cells to make them better able to fend off HIV. The researchers also sought a way to enhance the cells so the virus couldn’t return and successfully attack the cells again later.
The company’s researchers worked with federal infectious disease researchers to cooperatively assess the method before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed the human study to start.
“HIV shuts off the immune response; it’s insidious,” he said. “We amped up the response massively. That’s really the new twist.”
The FDA calls for participants to be followed for 15 years, with the first check for safety in July. If the cells don’t cause any concerns, the participants could enroll sometime after that in another study phase where they stop taking their medications to see whether the cells actually stop infections.
Contact
Institute of Human Virology
Jennifer Gonzales
Public Relations & Communications Manager
jennifer.gonzales@ihv.umaryland.edu
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Friday, May 01, 2020
NYT Op-Ed Features Gallo-Chumakov Oral Polio Vaccine for COVID-19 Idea
What if We Already Have a Coronavirus Vaccine? Researchers are testing whether decades-old vaccines for polio and tuberculosis could protect against infection.
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Dr. Robert Gallo Appears on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal
Please check out Dr. Robert Gallo’s C-SPAN Washington Journal appearance today to discuss COVID-19 treatments, vaccines, the need for the Global Virus Network, and more.
Monday, April 27, 2020
Expert Breaks Down Coronavirus Research: Is it Worse than HIV? Is it Mutating?
IHV Co-Founder and Director, Robert Gallo, MD is interviewed on LBC, a radio station in the United Kingdom. Darren Adam had Professor Gallo on the line to discuss his research in the past and the work he's carrying out during the coronavirus crisis. "We have learned to live with HIV" Darren began, listing out how it has changed from a death sentence to a disease that humans can live a long life with. He wondered if this could be possibly the path we're taking with Covid-19.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Dr. Robert Gallo on India Today Discussing the Oral Polio Vaccine for COVID-19
IndiaToday on Twitter - “Can oral polio vaccine help in fighting #Covid19? @DrRobertCGallo responds. #NewsToday with @sardesairajdeep
Friday, April 17, 2020
Dr. Robert Gallo Discusses Repurposing the Oral Polio Vaccine on CNN
Dr. Robert Gallo discusses repurposing the oral polio vaccine, drug therapies and more on COVID-19 on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, April 17, 2020.
Monday, April 13, 2020
Can an Oral Polio Vaccine Stop COVID-19?
Please see this just released Associated Press article, “Could old vaccines for other germs protect against COVID-19?” with Dr. Robert Gallo (Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine) and Dr. Konstantin Chumakov (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), both of the Global Virus Network (GVN).
Wednesday, April 08, 2020
Institute of Human Virology Co-founder on Coronavirus Recovery, Antibody Testing, Drug Testing, Bloomberg TV
Dr. Robert Gallo, the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Co-founder and director discusses the coronavirus. He speaks with Haidi Stroud-Watts and Shery Ahn on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)
Tuesday, April 07, 2020
A Deep Look Into The Coronavirus with Dr. Robert Gallo on WYPR (Baltimore’s local NPR station)
(WNPR) Dr. Robert Gallo has been getting to know viruses-- their targets and their weaknesses--for decades, even before he co-discovered the virus that causes AIDS in the 1980s. At the University of Maryland’s Institute for Human Virology, which he heads, Gallo is looking at the coronavirus; he joins us to share his thoughts. Gallo is also co-founder and international scientific advisor at the Global Virus Network.
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
Dr. Robert Gallo Featured on MSNBC’s 11th Hour with Brian Williams
Robert Gallo, MD, Co-Founder and Director of the Institute of Human Virology, discusses SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, specifically, how he thinks the fight against the Coronavirus is going thus far.
Friday, October 04, 2019
Institute of Human Virology Hosts 21st Annual International Meeting of Top Scientists on Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in America and the Intersection of Opioid Use Disorder
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine commenced IHV2019 held Thursday, October 3 through Friday, October 4 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. This year “Progress in HIV/AIDS: Challenges in 2020” opened with highlights about the recent plan for "Ending the HIV Epidemic by 2030” with expert opinions by ADM Brett Giroir, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Monday, August 26, 2019
Dr. Robert Gallo Featured in Malcolm Gladwell's Podcast, "Revisionist History: The Obscure Virus Club"
"Revisionist History" by Malcolm Gladwell: “The Obscure Virus Club,” featuring three prominent virologists, including Dr. Robert Gallo (as well as Dr. Ludwig Gross and Dr. Howard Temin).
Monday, June 24, 2019
UM School of Medicine's Institute of Human Virology Awarded $40 Million Grant to Conduct HIV Population Surveys
Man Charurat, MD, Professor of Medicine, Director, Center for International Health, Education, and Biosecurity (CIHEB), and Director, Division of Epidemiology and Prevention, Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), has been awarded a five-year grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct HIV population-based HIV impact assessments worldwide to measure the progress towards the control of the HIV epidemic
Wednesday, May 01, 2019
Large National Survey Shows Smaller HIV Epidemic in Nigeria Than Once Thought and Highlights Key Gaps
(CDC) The Government of Nigeria, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), CDC, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine released new data from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS), one of the largest population-based HIV/AIDS household surveys ever conducted. The NAIIS directly measured HIV prevalence and viral load suppression. According to the NAIIS results, the HIV prevalence in Nigeria is lower than previously thought, allowing the country to focus on providing services to the areas of greatest need to control the HIV epidemic.
Wednesday, August 02, 2017
UM School of Medicine Receives $2 Million Grant for HIV Research in Malawi
The University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UM SOM) Institute for Global Health (IGH) and the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) have been awarded a $2 million five-year grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the impact exposure to HIV has on the immune systems of infants in utero and how those changes impact the ability of infants to fight off infections after birth.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
"A Call to End HIV/AIDS in America" IHV Director Dr. Robert Gallo's Op-Ed in the Huffington Post
As the new Administration is presented with great challenges facing the United States, one will be a longtime foe, the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic. Since President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, I have publicly called on our country’s leaders to utilize the largest global health initiative in history - the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) - as a model to address the U.S. epidemic.