New Drug Technology Promising for AIDS

A novel drug to treat AIDS is based on new drug technology that shows promise for permanently stopping the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV-1 and HIV-2).

Called Aidfarel, the drug inhibits both the replication and transcription of the integrated viral DNA known as provirus by using technology called binary molecular DNA clamp (BMC). The drug consists of two similar but distinct parts that can be programmed to bind any specific double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) sequence in any gene. In CD4 T cells infected with the virus, the drug is set to bind to where the tat and rev genes overlap. Once bound to the specified dsDNA sequence, the two parts react with each other to become one and shutting down all viral production permanently. Laboratory studies have shown that the drug works exactly as designed.

The drug is unique in that it needs to be given only three times over a one-month period, making the treatment process less taxing for patients. Complete reconstitution of the immune system should molecule that surrounds the target DNA molecular sequence, completely preventing transcription and translation of that region occur within four to six weeks of the first injection. Final cellular testing is to take place at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) in early 2005. The drug and the new technology were developed by Pambec Laboratories, Inc. (Loveland, CO, USA).