Biotron presents HIV trial data at IAS 2013

Biotron (ASX:BIT) has presented data from a phase IIa trial of antiviral candidate BIT225 in HIV at this year’s International AIDS Society conference.

The company presented results from its trial at the conference, which is being held in Malaysia this week, and at the satellite ‘Towards an HIV Cure’ symposium.

The trial, conducted in Thailand late last year, demonstrated BIT225’s ability to target HIV replication within reservoir cells.

Targeting HIV within monocyte lineage cells has the potential to break the cycle of infection and reinfection of T cells within HIV-infected patients.

The results show that BIT225 had the most pronounced antiviral effect in patients with the highest viral loads.

Recent analyses presented at the conference also show that BIT225 is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, so could be able to target monocyte lineage cells residing in the brain that can cause AIDS-related dementia.

It is estimated that up to 24% of HIV-infected patients in Western populations develop some degree of neurological impairment due to the presence of the virus in these cells.

Biotron is also trialling BIT225 in hepatitis C, as well as in patients co-infected with both HIV and HCV.

Biotron shares were trading unchanged at $0.08 as of around 12.30 pm on Wednesday.