Stem Cell

CIRM Joins World AIDS Day Campaign, Commits $104 Million for HIV Research

Time Stamp: December 1, 2023 12:01 PM
Source Node: 363800

*John A. Zaia, MD, of Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope*

This year marks the 35th commemoration of World AIDS Day, a global event that aims to end human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) related stigma, honor people lost to the disease, and reaffirm the commitment to ensuring HIV is no longer a public health threat.

This year, the theme of the global event is World AIDS Day 35: Remember and Commit.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has joined this global awareness event and remains committed to funding research to find therapies and treatments to fight HIV.

About HIV & AIDS

HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). There is currently no effective cure, though much progress has been made to reduce HIV transmissions and make the virus undetectable in people.

Globally, an estimated 38 million people live with HIV. More than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS-related illnesses over the past 40 years, making it one of the most devastating pandemics in history.

In California, there are more than 141,000 people living with HIV as of 2021. That same year, there were 4,444 new HIV diagnoses.

While the rate of new diagnoses is on the decline in the state, the number of people living with HIV continues to grow. It is estimated that Californians living with HIV will face an average lifetime cost of $510,000 to treat their infection.

Investing in HIV Research and Therapies at CIRM

CIRM has invested more than $104 million in the search for stem cell and gene therapy treatments for HIV, ranging from discovery research to clinical trials.

Recent CIRM investments include a study at UC Davis health, in which researchers take a patient’s own white blood cells, also called T cells, and modify them so they can identify and target HIV cells to control the virus without medication.

CIRM also funded a clinical trial at UCSF to develop a treatment for HIV. In the study, the UCSF team lead by Steven Deeks, MD will modify a patient’s own immune cells to treat HIV.

The goal of this one-time therapy is to act as a long-term control of HIV so patients no longer need to take antiretroviral therapy (ART), which involves taking a combination of HIV medicines every day.

Recent HIV Research Awards

Other recent CIRM awards include an $11.3 million grant to John A. Zaia, MD, of Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope for a clinical trial that will enroll up to 12 healthy people with HIV to be treated in a first-in-human study.

Zaia’s City of Hope team, in partnership with the University of San Diego, will test a novel approach developed by City of Hope scientists in which a patient’s T cells are engineered to target both the HIV antigen gp120 and a common virus that infects nearly all persons living with HIV called cytomegalovirus.

The goal is for these CAR-T cells to persist and eliminate HIV-infected cells so that antiviral drugs are no longer needed.

World AIDS Day Events

CIRM will be co-sponsoring the upcoming World AIDS Day event in Palm Springs, hosted by HIV+ Aging Research Project and RID HIV. The event will be held at the Camelot Theater on December 1^st, with a reception to follow.

To learn more about CIRM-funded research to find treatments for HIV, visit this web page.