Breakthrough: Cure for HIV now possible

[stinkynuts]

CRISPR Breakthrough: HIV Successfully Removed from Human Cells

Scientists have achieved a groundbreaking milestone in the battle against HIV. Using CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology, researchers successfully removed latent HIV-1 DNA from human T-cells in the lab—something no drug has ever done. Even more remarkable, the edited cells resisted reinfection...

engineerine.com

Scientists have now been able to eliminate HIV that hides in cells. This is a major breakthrough, as up to now we could suppress the virus to undetectable levels, but not eliminate the virus. As such, the medications available were not a true cure, since once the patient stopped taking them, the virus would re-emerge and reinfect the patient.

 

[tml]

Probably causes autism.

 

[xix]

Even if possible I couldn't see pass the Gov't agency for another 10 years?

 

[seanzo]

Pharmaceutical companies are not in business to cure anything, they are in business to manage diseases and conditions. There's no profit to be made in curing HIV, there is profit to be made in making drugs that prevent somebody who is HIV positive from getting full blown AIDS and dying as a result

 

[massman]

Pharmaceutical companies are not in business to cure anything, they are in business to manage diseases and conditions. There's no profit to be made in curing HIV, there is profit to be made in making drugs that prevent somebody who is HIV positive from getting full blown AIDS and dying as a result

“Pharmaceutical companies” made a drug that cures Hep C.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Pharmaceutical companies are not in business to cure anything, they are in business to manage diseases and conditions. There's no profit to be made in curing HIV, there is profit to be made in making drugs that prevent somebody who is HIV positive from getting full blown AIDS and dying as a result

The exception to that rule are antibiotics

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

“Pharmaceutical companies” made a drug that cures Hep C

Which costs close to $100,000 per shot.

@seanzo is partially correct, big pharma is more interested in treating a disease so they have a repeat customer for life, than they are in curing a disease.
The only exception is when they discover a new drug which they can patent, and ask exorbitant amount of money for (like Epclusa or Mavyret).
And BTW those 2 Hep C drugs have a 95% cure rate, they are not perfect

 

[Butler1000]

Reading up on it, it's a big step but not the final one. Researchers say years just to get it to clinical animal trials. Then years more on top of that. It's about being able to find the virus on the system. That was apparently the major problem to treating it.

Now they have to figure out how to be able to find all of it in someone, then get to treatment.

 

[Giselle Montreal]

Reading up on it, it's a big step but not the final one. Researchers say years just to get it to clinical animal trials. Then years more on top of that. It's about being able to find the virus on the system. That was apparently the major problem to treating it.

Now they have to figure out how to be able to find all of it in someone, then get to treatment.

Exactly.

It's important to specify that it's been done but "in laboratory conditions" as the article says. The title is misleading. It'll be long, and it might not work either. But the research is important.

 

[Butler1000]

Exactly.

It's important to specify that it's been done but "in laboratory conditions" as the article says. The title is misleading. It'll be long, and it might not work either. But the research is important.

Not just for this. Cancer as well. The tech has many applications.

 

[massman]

Which costs close to $100,000 per shot.

@seanzo is partially correct, big pharma is more interested in treating a disease so they have a repeat customer for life, than they are in curing a disease.
The only exception is when they discover a new drug which they can patent, and ask exorbitant amount of money for (like Epclusa or Mavyret).
And BTW those 2 Hep C drugs have a 95% cure rate, they are not perfect

But the hep C example shows clearly that they are in the “business” of curing disease tho, no?

And 95% cure rate is probably better than any other medical treatment that exists.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

But the hep C example shows clearly that they are in the “business” of curing disease tho, no?

Thats only true for a small minority of pharma drugs.
For the vast majority (like cancer, diabetes, alzheimers, parkinsons....etc) the drugs currently available are a treatment, not a cure.
And you have to keep taking the drugs or you'll get sick again

And 95% cure rate is probably better than any other medical treatment that exists

For sure it is.

Now if they can only find a drug that cures cancer 95% of the time, that would be great

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

This is what google AI says:

Google Search

Q. For how many diseases does the pharmaceutical industry have cures for?

A. The pharmaceutical industry does not have cures for the vast majority of diseases, with a large percentage of recognized illnesses currently lacking approved treatments. While there are cures for some diseases, such as tuberculosis and cholera, many others, like HIV/AIDS and most rare diseases, are only treatable rather than curable.



Diseases with Cures:

• Tuberculosis: A cure has existed for decades.
• 
  
• Cholera: A cure is available for this disease.
  
  
• 
  
• Other examples: The industry has also developed vaccines for diseases like malaria, COVID-19, and HPV, preventing many illnesses.

Diseases with Treatments but No Cure:

• HIV/AIDS: While not curable, the disease is treatable with medication, allowing people to live long, healthy lives.
• 
  
• Malaria: Vaccines and treatments are available to manage and prevent the disease.
  
  
• 
  
• COVID-19: Treatments and vaccines are available to manage and prevent the disease.

Challenges in Curing Diseases:

• Rarity of Treatments:
  Many diseases lack approved treatments, with over 95% of illnesses having no specific treatment.
• 
  
• Rare Diseases:
  Over 6,000 rare diseases exist, with over 80% of them being genetic, and a significant number of these have no approved treatment.
  
  
• 
  
• Complexity of Diseases:
  The pharmaceutical industry focuses on developing medications for both treating and curing diseases, recognizing that some conditions cannot be cured but can be managed to improve patient quality of life.

 

[barnacler]

This is what google AI says:

Google Search

Q. For how many diseases does the pharmaceutical industry have cures for?

A. The pharmaceutical industry does not have cures for the vast majority of diseases, with a large percentage of recognized illnesses currently lacking approved treatments. While there are cures for some diseases, such as tuberculosis and cholera, many others, like HIV/AIDS and most rare diseases, are only treatable rather than curable.



Diseases with Cures:

• Tuberculosis: A cure has existed for decades.
• 
  
• Cholera: A cure is available for this disease.
  
  
• 
  
• Other examples: The industry has also developed vaccines for diseases like malaria, COVID-19, and HPV, preventing many illnesses.

Diseases with Treatments but No Cure:

• HIV/AIDS: While not curable, the disease is treatable with medication, allowing people to live long, healthy lives.
• 
  
• Malaria: Vaccines and treatments are available to manage and prevent the disease.
  
  
• 
  
• COVID-19: Treatments and vaccines are available to manage and prevent the disease.

Challenges in Curing Diseases:

• Rarity of Treatments:
  Many diseases lack approved treatments, with over 95% of illnesses having no specific treatment.
• 
  
• Rare Diseases:
  Over 6,000 rare diseases exist, with over 80% of them being genetic, and a significant number of these have no approved treatment.
  
  
• 
  
• Complexity of Diseases:
  The pharmaceutical industry focuses on developing medications for both treating and curing diseases, recognizing that some conditions cannot be cured but can be managed to improve patient quality of life.

I like cost/benefit analysis.

It is well known that the biggest bang for the buck is to continue to eliminate tuberculosis, it costs very little and, although enormous gains have been made, it is still the worlds leading cause of infectious disease death.

The cost/benefit ratio of treating COVID was clearly inferior by an order of magnitude to that of treating tuberculosis. Unfortunately tuberculosis deaths are generally in developing countries.

From WHO:

Key facts

• A total of 1.25 million people died from tuberculosis (TB) in 2023 (including 161 000 people with HIV). Worldwide, TB has probably returned to being the world’s leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, following three years in which it was replaced by coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It was also the leading killer of people with HIV and a major cause of deaths related to antimicrobial resistance.
• In 2023, an estimated 10.8 million people fell ill with TB worldwide, including 6.0 million men, 3.6 million women and 1.3 million children. TB is present in all countries and age groups. TB is curable and preventable.
• Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis and a health security threat. Only about 2 in 5 people with drug resistant TB accessed treatment in 2023.
• Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 79 million lives since the year 2000.
• US$ 22 billion is needed annually for TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care to achieve the global target by 2027 agreed at the 2023 UN high level-meeting on TB.
• Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

[Goodoer]

I'm of the opinion that there are too many kind-hearted and oath-swearing Scientists and Doctors out there to not get honesty in this space. Whether it be through gene editing, chemicals, phages, nanobots, etc., the race is on to find cures for everything.

It wasn't that long ago that even HIV was being looked at as a means to cure Cancer.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Scientists find 'natural cancer killer' is 'safer and more effective'

Elite experts have developed new 'natural killer' cells to fight off a form of cancer impacting 90,000 Americans a year and lower the risk of disastrous immune effects from chemotherapy.

www.dailymail.co.uk