Bionor’s product pipeline consists of three products which are the backbone of the
Functional HIV Cure strategy.
The 3 product candidates Vacc-4x, Vacc-C5 and CRX serves different functions in this
strategy.
- Vacc-4x is a T-cell vaccine candidate that targets the conserved structural parts
of the capsid protein of HIV, thereby killing HIV infected cells by Cytotoxic T-cell
Lymphocytes (CTL) and reducing HIV reservoirs. - Vacc-C5 is an antibody vaccine candidate that targets the 5 th conserved domain
on the envelope protein. Due to its conserved nature, Vacc-C5 antibodies
effectively bind and block the biological function of this domain. These antibodies
can kill HIV infected cells via Antibody Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity (ADCC)
leading to further reduction of HIV reservoirs. - CRX is our Peptide drug candidate that interferes with the binding between HIV
and the cell co-receptor(s) CCR5/CXCR4 thereby preventing HIV from entering
CD4 cells.
The functional HIV Cure based on this therapeutic vaccine combination aims to reduce
viral reservoirs and at the same time induce full viral load control via the entry-inhibiting
properties of CRX. A continuous exposure of HIV and HIV infected cells to CTL and
ADCC without reinfection of new CD4 cells will lead to a steady depletion of HIV
reservoirs over time. This is in contrast to ART, which only to a limited degree allows for exposure of HIV and HIV infected cells leaving the reservoirs unchanged. Our research
suggests that our 3 product candidates combined will have the potential to produce a
true Functional HIV Cure.