Written by Katie Forster

Image of HIV

A new vaccine-based treatment for HIV has succeeded in suppressing the virus in five patients, raising hopes further research could help prevent AIDS without the need for daily drugs. Researchers combined two innovative HIV vaccines with a drug usually used to treat cancer in the trial, conducted over three years at the IrsiCaixa Aids Research Institute in Barcelona. After receiving the treatment, the virus was undetectable in five out of 24 participants and its spread was stopped by their immune systems, reported the New Scientist. One of them has been drug-free for seven months. Lead scientist Beatriz Mothe said her team was “on the right path” to developing a treatment which could offer an alternative to daily antiretroviral medication (ART). READ MORE