According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), a recent study found that three different HIV antibodies were able to protect monkeys from acquiring simian-HIV (SHIV) in a placebo-controlled proof-of-concept study.
The main goal of the study was to use the findings to help in the development of a preventive HIV vaccine for people.
The antibodies in question included a human broadly neutralizing antibody and two antibodies that had been isolated from previously vaccinated monkeys. They all targeted the fusion peptide, which is a site on an HIV surface protein that helps the virus to fuse with and enter cells. These findings were published in Science Translational Medicine on Wednesday.
The research team from the NIH managed to isolate a fusion peptide-directed human antibody, known as VRC34.01, from a person living with HIV who had donated blood samples for research purposes.
Additionally, they also isolated two antibodies from rhesus macaques as part of this study.
According to the NIH, demonstrating that these antibodies can protect animals would validate the fusion peptide as a target for human vaccine design.
