Designer molecule lowers HIV levels: trial results
This meant the designer molecule dubbed 3BNC117 may be best used in combination with other drugs, said the team — while highlighting the promise of a new, immunotherapy-based approach to fighting HIV. “This represents potentially a new class of drugs with activity against HIV,” study co-author Marina Caskey of New York's Rockefeller University told AFP. So-called monoclonal antibodies like 3BNC117 which are cloned from a single parent immune cell, hold the promise of actually killing HIV-infected cells. The new agent, cloned from a cell taken from an HIV-positive person, was given to 12 uninfected volunteers and 17 infected with HIV.