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Ho plans to develop a revolutionary, long-acting HIV therapy to improve adherence to treatment
Aug. 12, 2011 - The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced today
that Dr. David Ho of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York, NY, has been selected as the 2011 recipient of the NIDA
Avant-Garde Award for HIV/AIDS Research. Ho's proposal aims to develop a novel HIV therapy that could be administered monthly;
as opposed to the existing daily treatment for HIV. NIDA's annual Avant-Garde award competition, now in its fourth year, is
intended to stimulate high-impact research that may lead to groundbreaking opportunities for the prevention and treatment
of HIV/AIDS in drug abusers. Awardees receive $500,000 per year for five years to support their research.
"Dr. Ho is taking a bold step to develop a new, long acting therapy that addresses the challenge of patient adherence with an imaginative
solution," said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "His proposal has the potential to make treatment much less burdensome on HIV patients,
and at the same time improve outcomes."
Combination antiretroviral therapy, consisting of orally-administered small-molecule inhibitors of anti- HIV drugs taken daily, has
revolutionized the treatment of HIV/AIDS. However, treatment failures continue to occur in a significant fraction of those treated,
often due to incomplete patient adherence to the prescribed regimen. Lack of compliance is particularly severe among drug
abusers. Dr. Ho's project aims to develop antibody-like molecules that could be administered monthly for the treatment of
HIV. A once-a-month treatment would improve the feasibility of directly observed therapy, an evidence-based adherence
intervention."Such antibodies are not only well tolerated and have an excellent safety record, but are also
administered infrequently because of their long half-life as compared to small molecules," said Ho.
"We believe this could be the next generation of medications to treat HIV."
Dr. Ho, Time Magazine's 1996 Man of the Year , was
one of many applicants whose proposals reflect diverse scientific disciplines and approaches to HIV/AIDS research. The Avant-Garde Awards are
modeled after the NIH Pioneer Awards and are granted to scientists of exceptional creativity who propose high-impact research that could open
new avenues for prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS among drug abusers. Drug abuse and its related behaviors, such as sharing drug
injection equipment and/or engaging in risky sexual behavior while intoxicated, have been central to the spread of HIV/AIDS since
the pandemic began 30 years ago. NIDA's HIV/AIDS research program supports
a multidisciplinary portfolio that investigates the role of drug use and its related behaviors in the evolving dynamics of HIV/AIDS
epidemiology, natural history, etiology, pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention. For information about the Avant-Garde award for
Innovative HIV/AIDS Research, click here .
Information about the 2012 Avant-Garde award will be posted on this site soon.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
NIDA supports most of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety
of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA
research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at www.drugabuse.gov .
To order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA's new DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH or 240-645-0228 (TDD)
or fax or email requests to 240-645-0227 or drugpubs@nida.nih.gov . Online
ordering is available at http://drugpubs.drugabuse.gov . NIDA's new media
guide can be found at http://drugabuse.gov/mediaguide/ .
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is
investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its
programs, visit www.nih.gov .
Source: NIH News: National Institutes of Health
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2011/nida-12.htm
Contact:
NIDA Press Office
301-443-6245
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