Inovio HIV Immunotherapy Shows Characteristics Considered Vital To Treating HIV

(RTTNews) - Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (INO) said results from a 12-patient phase I study of Inovio's HIV immunotherapy, PENNVAX-B, in HIV-infected patients revealed that immune response characteristics generated by the immunotherapy were similar to those observed in HIV-infected individuals who without treatment do not progress to further stages of the disease.

These extremely rare individuals who self-regulate their HIV infection are called "long-term non-progressors." It is believed that part of their ability to control infection may lie in their unique immune responses.

In this phase I study, Inovio's HIV immunotherapy, which had been previously tested only in disease prevention, drove the expansion of activated HIV-specific CD8+ T cells with functional characteristics similar to those of long-term non-progressors.

In this phase I study, HIV-infected individuals whose viral load was already effectively suppressed using a highly active antiviral therapy received a four-dose regimen of PENNVAX-B. Investigators observed that Inovio's HIV immunotherapy significantly increased antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell responses in all patients.