Fifth person 'cured' of HIV: 'Geneva patient' is latest to be in long-term remission

A person with HIV, dubbed the "Geneva patient", has become the latest to be declared in long-term remission. The man, however, has not received a transplant with a virus-blocking gene mutation like the previous cases, said researchers on Thursday (July 20). Till now, five people have been considered "cured" of HIV. These were called the Berlin, London, Duesseldorf, New York and City of Hope, California patients.

All of these patients had received bone marrow transplants to treat serious cases of cancer. They received stem cells from a donor with a mutation of the CCR5 gene. This mutation is known to block HIV from entering the body's cells.

The Geneva patient received a similar stem cell transplant in order to treat a particularly aggressive form of Leukaemia. However, this time the donor did not carry the CCR5 mutation. The information was made public by French and Swiss researchers who told a press conference which was held in the Australian city of Brisbane as part of an AIDS conference which began on the weekend.

The absence of mutation means that the patient is in remission in spite of HIV being able to enter his cells.

The researchers said that 20 months after the Geneva patient stopped antiretroviral treatment, doctors did not find a trace of HIV in his system. Antiretroviral treatment reduces the amount of HIV in the blood.

While they cannot rule out that the man's HIV will return, the researchers said they consider him to be in long-term remission.

"What is happening to me is magnificent, magical," the Geneva patient said in a statement.

The patient is a white man who chose not to be named. he was diagnosed with HIV in 1990.

He had been on antiretrovirals until November 2021, when his doctors advised him to stop taking the treatment after the bone marrow transplant.

A promising treatment

Two previous cases, which were identified as the Boston patients, had received normal or 'wild type' stem cells during their transplants. But in both of these cases, HIV infection returned a few months after antiretroviral treatment was stopped.

Asier Saez-Cirion, a scientist at France's Pasteur Institute who presented the Geneva patient case in Brisbane, told AFP that if there was still no sign of the virus after 12 months "the probability that it will be undetectable in the future increases significantly".

Saez-Cirion said that there were a couple of possible explanations behind the Geneva patient remaining HIV-free.

"In this specific case, perhaps the transplant eliminated all the infected cells without the need for the famous mutation," he said.

"Or maybe his immunosuppressive treatment, which was required after the transplant, played a role."
Sharon Lewin, the president of the International AIDS Society holding the HIV science conference in Brisbane, said the case was "promising".

"But we learned from the Boston patients that even a single" particle of the virus can lead to HIV rebounding, she cautioned.

"This particular individual will need to be watched closely over the next months and years."

(With inputs from agencies)

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