Gammora....

[Jmarksto]

The news of Gammora popped up today.  As I dug into it I became somewhat skeptical (limited information, can't find it in the NIH database, small company, .....). It looks like there was some "in vitro" success and news back in 2010 or so. That said, I was also skeptical of Cytodyn's Pro140 a few years ago which had many of those same characteristics.  We'll see.....Gammora:




https://tinyurl.com/yb32ocof

Is an HIV cure on the immediate horizon? A major medical breakthrough delivers hope
[/size]A TEAM of medical researchers believes they are on the cusp of developing a cure for HIV, after an initial human clinical trial delivered astounding results.
In the first phase of testing, the drug Gammora eliminated up to 99 per cent of the virus within the first four weeks of treatment, it was announced today.
[/size]Zion Medical, an Israeli biotech company, has worked in conjunction with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, on the trials.
The groundbreaking results showed the drug significantly reduced the viral load in human subjects by killing HIV-infected cells[/font]
[/font]While it’s the first stage of exploration and a small-scale start, it has offered significant hope of a potential cure for the virus, which first emerged 35 years ago.
[/size]
“These first clinical results were beyond our expectations and promise hope in finding a cure for the disease,” Dr Esmira Naftali, head of development at Zion Medical, said.[/font]
In July and August, nine patients at Ronald Bata Memorial Hospital in Uganda were randomly assigned to receive different doses of Gammora for between four to five weeks.
“Most patients showed a significant reduction of the viral load of up to 90% from the baseline during the first four weeks,” Dr Naftali said.[/font]


In the second part of the trial, conducted two weeks later, patients were given the drug with additional retroviral treatment for another four to five weeks.
[/size]The results showed the combined treatments eliminated up to 99 per cent of the viral loadin those patients in four weeks.
Those patients participating in the trial exhibited no signs of negative side effects and the drug is non-toxic.
[/size]During the total 10-week study, patients in both groups showed a “significant” increase in T cell counts, which play a significant role in the immune system’s function.

[Jim Allen]

Personally I was unable to find anything new published in peer reviewed papers regarding this.

 Gammora a few years back reduced levels not cleared HIV in Petri dish testing. This update without details or peer reviews is hard to decipher, other than the claim it reduced VL by 90% in a few patients for a few weeks and standard ART suppressed the rest.

I would not be getting excited about this, and the headline is sensational not factually as we see too often.

Jim

[Jmarksto]

---I didn't mention in my original post that they are claiming the mechanism of the drug (apoptosis) works on (some???) cancer and it looks like that is where they have focused peer papers.  Which makes sense because cancer is a much bigger market.
 
 ---The percentage of viral load cleared is absolutely meaningless (in this article and most other articles) without significantly more information.  Was this in the blood, reservoirs, which reservoirs, over what time period, sustained with/without treatment, assay methods, etc. etc. etc.
 
 --- Yup, the headline is sensational which is why I buried it in the post.  The concept of eradication via apoptosis and the connection to cancer research is intriguing.
 
 

[Jim Allen]

I think were saying the same thing.

Jim

[Prince_Bernhard]

I have found a more clarifying article: https://edgylabs.com/new-hiv-drug

What I understand from it is that it is the opposite of the (N)NRTI's that we are using as ARV nowadays. They modified the HIV-integrase enzyme in such a way that it becomes hyperactive. The integrase enzyme is the one that is responsible for putting the viral RNA-code in the DNA-strands of our healthy cells which will become subsequently infected cells and then produce more HIV virus particles.

The hyperactive integrates enzyme performs reverse-transcriptase of the viral RNA many times within the DNA strands of a cell. As a result, the DNA strand become full of HIV RNA, and the cell will malfunction and will kill itself (apoptosis). In addition, since this enzyme only targets HIV reverse-transcriptase, it will most likely focus only on HIV cells and it is not likely that it will produce any side effects.

The concept is relatively easy to understand and the human trial results are encouraging. The results of the second stage trial showed that the drug eliminated up to 99 percent of the viral load in the patients. It is unclear to me how they were able to measure this.

Other interesting and encouraging developments, like BIT225, might likely also contribute to a cure, and in my opinion a combination of several drugs that each will target a different part of the body, could possibly be the holy grail. BIT225 reaches the macrophage reservoir, this drug Gammora reaches other infected cells, and many more  drugs are in development stages right now.

The scientific community is working very hard on this, and although it seems impossible to cure the infection, it looks like each time a new piece of the puzzle is found. It will take time, but I am confident that one day, a cure (either functional or sterilising) will be feasible.

[Jim Allen]

All I am reading is a viral suppression of below 300 copies in combination with ART under a very small group of people. I have yet to see peer reviewed publication on this claim, but lets say for the moment its true and correct than its not a cure.
 
If true than like any new drug in suppression of HIV blood levels is great to have it as a treatment development and we always learn something if when they fail,  but i'm not seeing anything spectacular about this one in tissue results or long term suppression rates myself and its not been through the stages yet.

All in all over the decades the word cure gets thrown around far too easy based on early good results, with bold claims sometimes even of a cure being less than X months or years away raising false hopes and having terrible consequences for individuals buying into headlines, but it simply never has worked out so I would urge caution on what you read or pin false hopes on.

Jim

[geobee]

Something just doesn't smell right about this story -- it's been around for a while.  Presumably, if it worked, it would be a much bigger story by now.  I'd like to be optimistic about it, but the evidence just seems too flimsy.  It felt like a "notice me, invest a lot of dollars in our small company" story.

[geobee]

Looks like junk science.   Headline to the article is:

Gammora does not cure HIV

First three paragraphs:

An Israeli biotech company has issued a misleading press release which has encouraged some media outlets to falsely suggest that a new drug, Gammora, may be able to cure HIV.

Zion Medical report that their study enrolled nine patients in Uganda. For the first four weeks, patients received a new drug called Gammora. “Most patients showed a significant reduction of the viral load of up to 90% from the baseline during the first four weeks” (emphasis added). In the second part of the study, patients also received conventional antiretroviral therapy. “The results found that combined-treated patients demonstrated sustained viral suppression and achieved HIV-1 RNA <300 copies/mL, and showed up to 99% reduction in viral load from baseline within four weeks.”

This is no better than conventional antiretroviral therapy – which, of course, the trial participants were also taking.

Link:

http://www.aidsmap.com/Gammora-does-not-cure-HIV/page/3363143/

[Jim Allen]

Thanks for the update.

Explains a lot, when it does not sound right its for a reason.
Not the first time false or misleading claims are made nor will it be the last time i suspect

Jim

[harleymc]

We have an update on the 'cure' reports, time to put it to bed.

https://www.aidsmap.com/Gammora-does-not-cure-HIV/page/3363143/

[Ptrk3]

Indeed, harleymc, Jim, geobee:

From the November 12, 2018, issue of POZ (online):

https://www.poz.com/article/reports-imminent-hiv-cure-false