Attacking AIDS

2 November 2003

A new multinational clinical trial funded by the Wellcome Trust will test the theory that a strong, early attack on HIV will have major long-term benefits for those infected with the virus.

The trial is based on research by Professor Jonathan Weber of Imperial College London and Professor Rodney Phillips at the University of Oxford, and others, suggesting that antiviral drugs may protect HIV-specific immune cells, boosting their ability to subdue the virus in the body. Early treatment may be especially beneficial by protecting immune cells at a stage when HIV is having a particularly detrimental effect on immune defences.

The £4.8 million Spartac (short pulse anti-retroviral therapy at sero-conversion) trial will test the effect of early antiretroviral treatment in newly infected individuals in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Russia and South Africa. The Russian arm of the study will be coordinated by Professor Vadim Pokrovskiy and Dr Aleksei Bobkov in Moscow. In South Africa, the trial will be led by Dr Michael Bennish at the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies in KwaZulu-Natal. The clinical trial has been designed in collaboration with Professor Abdel Babiker of the UK Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit in London.

External links

• Imperial College London (Affiliation of Professor Jonathan Weber)
• University of Oxford (Affiliation of Professor Rodney Phillips)
• Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies (Affiliation of Dr Michael Bennish)
• MRC Clinical Trials Unit (Affiliation of Professor Abdel Babiker)