ViiV Healthcare inks licensing deal with the NIH for investigational 'bNAb'

HIV/AIDS specialist firm ViiV Healthcare, which is majority owned by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK), today announced that it will be developing the investigational broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) N6LS for the treatment and prevention of HIV-1, as part of an exclusive licensing agreement between GSK and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the USA’s National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Broadly neutralizing antibodies are antibodies that can recognize and block the entry of different strains of HIV into healthy cells. N6LS is an antiviral bNAb that works by binding to a specific site (gp120) on the surface of HIV that prevents its entry into uninfected immune system cells (CD4+ T-cells). By blocking HIV’s entry into human CD4+ cells, HIV replication is halted, and the HIV transmission process may be prevented.

Potential for treatment and prevention of HIV