A man sits on a hospital bed
Posed by model (Photo: Shutterstock)

A big HIV/AIDS conference takes place next week in Munich, Germany. AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, will attract attendees from around the world.

Ahead of the event taking place, organizers yesterday revealed some of the research to be presented at the event. 

This includes details of a new “Berlin Patient.”

The original “Berlin Patient” was a man named Timothy Ray Brown. He was HIV-positive and developed leukemia. His cancer treatment involved him receiving a stem cell transplant to reboot his immune system.

He received stem cells in 2007 from someone with a rare, genetic resistance to HIV. Brown went on to develop his resistance to HIV and appeared cured. Even off anti-HIV medication, his HIV never returned. 

Brown died in Palm Springs in 2020 when his cancer eventually returned. This was not related to his HIV status. Since then, half a dozen similar other individuals have been cured of HIV after receiving stem cell transplants. 

However, such transplants are extremely costly, grueling procedures that carry their own risks. Patients have to take immunosuppressive drugs afterward. They tend to only be carried out when people are battling life-threatening blood cancers. They are not considered as a treatment suitable for mass rollout to those with HIV. 

The new “Berlin Patient”

Details about this new “Berlin Patient” are a little different. The International AIDS Society describes it as a “first-of-its-kind.”

Those cured by a stem cell transplant before received new cells from someone with a double genetic mutation carried by only 1% of the population. These mutations make their immune cells largely resistant to HIV infection. 

This new patient received a stem cell transplant from someone with a single, not double, genetic mutation. Researchers believe this could have implications in the search for a more scalable, HIV treatment. At the very least, it widens the pool of potential stem cell donors.

The man concerned received his stem cell transplant in late 2015. He stopped taking his anti-HIV medication in 2018. Five and a half years later, he shows no signs of his HIV rebounding. 

“A healthy person has many wishes, a sick person only one,” said the patient, aged 60, who has chosen to remain anonymous.

People who naturally carry this single genetic mutation can still acquire HIV. They make up around 15% of the population in Europe. However, the disease progresses much more slowly if no anti-HIV medication is taken. 

“Highly suggestive of an HIV cure”

The fact that this patient had a stem cell transplant whilst receiving anti-HIV medication, then stopped his medication and has remained HIV undetectable years later, has aroused interest and excitement. 

Christian Gaebler, a doctor-researcher at Berlin’s Charite University Hospital, said they cannot be “absolutely certain” that every trace of HIV has been eradicated. However, “the patient’s case is highly suggestive of an HIV cure.”

“The next Berlin Patient’s experience suggests that we can broaden the donor pool for these kinds of cases, although stem cell transplantation is only used in people who have another illness, such as leukemia,” said Sharon Lewin, President of the International AIDS Society.

“This is also promising for future HIV cure strategies based on gene therapy, because it suggests that we don’t have to eliminate every single piece of CCR5 [the gene where the mutation is found] to achieve remission.”

Next week’s conference will also hear about the success of DoxyPrEP rollouts and the results of trials into new forms of long-acting PrEP.

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