Aphios®
Presents its Combination Therapy for Treating HIV Latency
at the 6th International AIDS Society Conference in Rome,
Italy 
Woburn,
MA —
July
19, 2011
— Dr. Trevor P. Castor, President and CEO of
Aphios® Corporation, presented a Combination Therapy
for Treating HIV Latency at the 6th International AIDS Society
(IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention
in Rome, Italy.
More than 5,000 AIDS researchers, scientists, clinicians,
community leaders and policy experts from around the globe
gathered at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, Italy,
to attend the three-day IAS Conference, which is the world’s
largest open scientific conference on HIV/AIDS. The use
of HIV treatment as prevention was the major theme of the
conference, but some important research on new approaches
to treating and/or curing HIV/AIDS were also presented including
the National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA) satellite
symposium “NAPWA’s Treatment Horizons: Pathways
to a Functional Cure,” in which Dr. Castor presented
APH-0812, a combination therapy as a potential cure for
HIV/AIDS.
“Over the last decade, Highly Active Anti-Retroviral
Therapy (HAART) has been a lifesaver for millions of patients
with HIV/AIDS,” explained Dr. Castor. “Unfortunately,
upon removal of HAART, the virus rebounds from latent HIV-infected
cellular reservoirs. HIV latency complicates the quality
of lives of HIV patients who suffer through multi-component
drug regimens, some of which they become resistant to and
which often have significant side effects and toxicities.”
“For these and related economic reasons, eradication
of HIV virus reservoirs can be a major step in curing HIV/AIDS
and halting this epidemic,” Dr. Castor continued.
“We at Aphios® with our Spanish collaborators
at Universidad de Córdoba, Ramon y Cajal Hospital,
Madrid, and VivaCell Biotechnology, España, are investigating
a combination therapy that includes a Protein Kinase C (PKC)
modulator which down regulates the expression of the HIV-1
receptors CD4 and CXCR4 and thus is a candidate for treating
HIV-1 latency. Our researchers have also discovered that
nanomolar concentrations of this PKC modulator synergize
with histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors to antagonize
HIV-1 latency.” Aphios® hopes to announce a Phase
I/II human clinical trial of APH-0812 in Spain later this
year or early in 2012.
Woburn, MA, based Aphios® Corporation is a green biotechnology
company developing enabling technology platforms for improved
drug discovery and manufacturing, nanotechnology drug delivery
and pathogenic drug safety. Based on these platforms, Aphios®
is developing enhanced therapeutic products for health maintenance,
disease prevention and the treatment of certain cancers,
infectious diseases such as HIV and influenza, and central
nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
Founded in 1983 as the largest and oldest advocacy group
for people living with HIV/AIDS, The National Association
of People With AIDS (NAPWA) is the trusted independent voice
for all people living with the virus in the United States.
NAPWA remains a strong voice in policy, capacity building,
leadership development, and social networking. NAPWA is
a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization based in Silver Spring,
MD. For more information about NAPWA, please visit www.napwa.org.
The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world’s
largest leading independent association of HIV professionals,
with over 13,000 members in 188 countries working at all
levels of the global response to HIV/AIDS. IAS members represent
scientists, clinicians, public health and community practitioners
on the frontlines of the epidemic. The IAS is the custodian
of the biennial International AIDS Conference and the host
of the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and
Prevention. For more information about IAS, please visit
www.iasociety.org.
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