HIV therapy with antiretroviral drug combinations lowers HIV plasma virions to nearly undetectable levels, however a treatment-resistant reservoir persists. When antiviral therapy is stopped, viremia recurs, and HIV therapy is therefore lifelong. Costs and side effects of this therapy are significant. Furthermore, drug-resistant HIV can result from non-compliance or inability to tolerate effective drug therapy. CCR5 is a cell coreceptor necessary for HIV infection. In an HIV+ patient diagnosed with leukemia, allogeneic stem cell transplantation with a CCR5 deficient donor recently led to eradication of HIV in one patient. Autologous T cells or stem cells rendered CCR5 deficient could lead to repopulation of immune cells resistant to HIV. We are testing the feasibility of zinc finger endonucleases to create CCR5 deficient CD4 T cells in a clinical trial. Interim results will be presented demonstrating the safety and feasibility of this approach and persistence of CCR5 modified cells in vivo.

Drs. O'Doherty and Levine only consented to having audio.