Le Professeur Asier Sáez-Cirión, responsable de l’unité Virological Reservoirs and Immune Control at the Pasteur Institute, discusses the exceptional case of the patient from Geneva, in remission from HIV after a bone marrow transplant.
The patient from Geneva is one of the few cases of HIV remission without virus reappearance after stopping treatment. Can you explain his case to us?
Pr Asier SAEZ-CIRION: After a bone marrow transplant, we, with the agreement of the medical team and Romuald (the patient from Geneva), stopped antiretroviral treatment. The big news is that the donor for the bone marrow transplant did not have the CCR5-delta 32 mutation, unlike other comparable transplants done on HIV-positive patients. This rare genetic mutation makes cells naturally resistant to HIV. However, despite the absence of this mutation, the virus did not reappear, and today we can say that the patient is likely cured…
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In a groundbreaking development in the fight against AIDS, a patient in Geneva has been in remission from HIV for three years after receiving a bone marrow transplant. This extraordinary case, overseen by Pr Asier Sáez-Cirión at the Pasteur Institute, represents a significant milestone in HIV research.
Pr Asier Sáez-Cirión, head of the Viral Reservoirs and Immune Control unit at the Institut Pasteur.
Credit: Pasteur Institute – François Gardy
INTERVIEW – After receiving a bone marrow transplant three years ago in Geneva, a patient no longer has any traces of HIV in their body. A very particular case that represents a major advancement in the fight against AIDS.
The patient from Geneva is one of the few cases of HIV remission without virus reappearance after stopping treatment. Can you explain his case?
Pr Asier SAEZ-CIRION: After a bone marrow transplant, we, with the agreement of the medical team and Romuald (the patient from Geneva), stopped antiretroviral treatment. The big news is that the donor for the bone marrow transplant did not have the CCR5-delta 32 mutation, unlike other comparable transplants done on HIV-positive patients. This rare genetic mutation makes cells naturally resistant to HIV. However, despite the absence of this mutation, the virus did not reappear, and today we can say that the patient is likely cured…
