The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment studies are being conducted at the Jattinder Gambhir Hospital in Punjab, India, and the Bhvani Hospital in Bihar, India. In the studies, up to six HIV-infected patients will be administered daily Hemopurifier treatment for a period up to nine consecutive days.
The device, known as the Aethlon Hemopurifier, assists the immune response in combating infectious disease through real-time therapeutic filtration of infectious viruses and immunosuppressive proteins. The Hemopurifier has previously demonstrated rapid viral load reduction in hepatitis-C patients, and based on research data, is said to be the most advanced broad-spectrum treatment countermeasure against bioterror and emerging pandemic threats.
In HIV care, the Hemopurifier is designed to provide both an antiviral and immunotherapeutic mechanism of action. The goal of treatment is to inhibit viral replication through the rapid clearance of all strains of infectious HIV, and to augment the immune response by eliminating circulating gp120, a protein that sheds from the surface of HIV to kill-off immune cells necessary to fight infection, the company said.
Jim Joyce, Aethlon chairman and CEO, said: “Based on our recent hepatitis-C treatment observations, I am increasingly confident that our Hemopurifier will demonstrate similar effectiveness in HIV studies. If correct, the Hemopurifier will advance HIV care by offering a treatment option that extends life for patients no longer responsive to drug therapy, and enhances the benefit of drug regimens by inhibiting the proliferation of HIV strains that cause drug resistance.”