Innovative Approaches to Therapeutic HIV vaccine Design

Topic:  HIV Vaccine Development Abstract: Innovative Approaches to Therapeutic HIV vaccine Design

Issues Unprecedented rates of antiretroviral drug resistance demand the development of new therapies for treatment experienced HIV patients experiencing the pathogenesis of resistant profiles of minority subspecies. Clinical developments in the field of therapeutic vaccines for HIV have clearly indicated significant therapeutic response for patients on salvage therapy who are currently without viable clinical options.

Description This roundtable discussion will provides an overview of therapeutic approaches currently in clinical development that could succeed in suppressing viral replication and delaying disease progression with structured treatment interruptions.   Specific therapeutic HIV vaccine approaches: - autologous dendritic cell therapy - p24 like peptide vaccine - DNA plasmid vaccine - lentiviral vector gene therapy

Lessons Learned Neither HAART nor a preventive vaccine is expected to provide a solution to the HIV epidemic within the next decade  It is therefore necessary to refocus on the development of immune-based therapies to achieve viral suppression and CD4 reconstitution in the absence of antiretroviral therapy.

Recommendations Several therapeutic HIV vaccine strategies show significant promise in treatment experienced patients and would provide alternatives for patient populations who are experiencing and increasingly developing extensive antiretroviral drug resistance and demonstrate inability to achieve viral suppression through HAART. Further clinical studies in variable patient populations will indicate the efficacy of these approaches for extending the clinical viability of therapeutic HIV vaccine candidates.