BioCentury
ARTICLE | Clinical News

Gilead's TLR7 agonist shows promise against HIV in shock and kill combo in monkeys

March 9, 2018 7:11 PM UTC

Researchers showed that a broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) delayed HIV rebound in a "shock and kill" combination with toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist vesatolimod (GS-9620) from Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) after discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in macaques.

While ART has been effective at controlling HIV infection by blocking viral replication, the virus hides out in immune cells by inserting itself into the cells' chromosome, creating latent viral reservoirs. If therapy is stopped, the virus inevitably rebounds. Shock and kill involves reactivating the latent virus in the presence of antivirals to eliminate the reservoirs...