Broadly neutralising antibodies are one of the most active and exciting areas in HIV research. While they haven’t been able to outperform antiretrovirals in any trials so far, evidence is mounting that they do have some efficacy, both for HIV prevention and treatment.on a “proof of concept” study showing that a specific bnAb can successfully prevent infection with certain strains of HIV.
In the third stage, the dual bnAb treatment was stopped and antiretrovirals restarted. It was a single-arm study with no control group. “Treatment success may improve further using newer bnAb combinations and by selecting children with favourable pretreatment characteristics. “The reason it takes so long is because bnAbs develop through a maturation process. When someone becomes infected with HIV, they make antibodies against the virus, but these are usually not very strong,” she says.
“They’re not able to protect against infection or disease progression as the person has already been infected for too long and eventually the virus wins unless treated with antiretrovirals,” she says. She describes bnAbs as a passive transfer of immunity. “It means you can, if you like, get immunity on tap. It’s immediate and if it works. It’s highly effective,” Bekker says.