Ming Lee

@imperialctu.bsky.social RIO Team represented today at the @bhiva.bsky.social Spring Conference in Brighton 🤩 RIO Trial results presentation as part of the Oral Abstracts Session one - presented by RIO Chief Investigator, Prof Sarah Fidler 😊 #bhiva25 #riotrial #bnabs

i-base.info/htb/50971

Want to find out more about RIO?

The brilliant @hiv-i-base.bsky.social team have published a non-technical Q&A on the recently reported results of the RIO study.

Read more about it here ⬆️

LS-bNAbs were detectable in the gut up to 6m after a single dose, but tissue bNAbs exposurewere 7-8x lower compared to blood.

This long term viral control does not appear to be due to tissue persistence of LS-bNAbs.

Of these group, some experienced rebound while bNAbs were still high, some when the bNAbs were below the 10ug/ml threshold (previously thought to be when bNAbs are no longer effective), and some people who remained fully suppressed despite no bNAbs on board.

Delighted to be able to present my PhD findings of bNAb in gut tissue, alongside the primary RIO trial findings at the Keystone HIV cure symposium in Durban!

#KeystoneSymposium #HIVcure2025

At the Keystone HIV cure symposium in Durban, South Africa. Looking forward to a great line up of talks and the chance to meet other cure researchers around the globe!

Prof Ndung'u opens the meeting with a keynote talk on combination HIV cure approaches in resource limited settings.

RIO is an international collaboration bringing together researchers from Rockefeller, Imperial College London, University of Oxford, and clinical sites across UK and Europe.

Here are some of our investigators unwinding after the #CROI2025 conference in San Francisco.

As RIO and other groups have shown, bNAbs may be most promising as an immunotherapeutic intervention to enhance immun rasponsew, rather than as ART treatment. #CROI2025

4mthly IV/SC N6LS with mthly CAB maintained viral suppression, but there were a small but significant group of people who experienced viral control failure.

Like many other bNAb studies, these findings suggest we may have a while to go for the use of bNAbs as a direct antiviral.

#CROI2025

96W CARES CAB/RPV. Efficacy remains high and non-inferior vs continued oral ART (97% <50)
4 VFs on LA (0 on PO) 3/4 with dual class RAMs (1 with baseline RPV RMAs) 1/4 not sequenced.
Great results.

Tecovirimat did not lead to faster clinical resolution, or reduction of pain, for clade 2 MPOX.

We need new agents to treat MPOX.

#CROI2025

Ensitrelvir, a SARS-CoV-2 C3 like protease inhibitor reduced incidence of COVID-19 by two-thirds up to day 10 after exposure.

#CROI2025

Frailty was associated with an increased risk of MACE in the REPRIEVE study. However frailty did not seem to impact the effectiveness of pitavastatin on preventing MACE outcomes.

Caveat limited sample size and events in this relatively young cohort assessed with low-mod CVD risk. #CROI2025

Findings from the last gift cohort. Although total HIV DNA measures were similar in the spinal cord (SC) compared to the brain, there was higher HIV diversity seen in the SC. SC may be an important site of HIV dispersal. #CROI2025

A real challenge in this field is being able to carefully examine brain and central nervous system tissues over time. People may consent to lumbar punctures but a (or multiple) brain biopsy is much more invasive. Studies like the Last Gift are truly amazing but only allow tissue study after death.

HIV Researchers and Advocates Rally to Save Our Sciences Speakers oppose the Trump administration’s funding cuts to the NIH, PEPFAR and Medicaid and attacks on communities most vulnerable to HIV.

Took a break from science news to write up Monday's inspiring #SaveOurSciences rally at #CROI2025. More of a photo essay, really, with lots of familiar faces.

www.poz.com/article/hiv-...

Roger Paredes on Long COVID. Lots of evidence now that viral persistence seen up to 2yrs after initial infection is seen in people with long COVID. LC is associated with increased thromboinflammation.

The way forward - greater pt involvement, adaptive RCTs, and vaccination! #CROI2025

It's great to see two more people reported to be in remission from HIV after stem cell transplants at #CROI2025.

But stem cell transplants remain a high risk procedure and not feasible for all, and we need safer, more scalable and accessible cure interventions for people living with HIV.

YouTube video by IAS-USA 40+ Years of HIV: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t, What Shouldn’t, What Must

A must-watch: Rebecca Denison, founder of Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD), delivers the Martin Delaney Presentation at #CROI2025

"40+ Years of #HIV: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t, What Shouldn’t, What Must"

Thanks to IAS-USA for making it publicly available.

RIO HIV Trial - Viral suppression off ART using dual bNAb therapy RIO is looking at whether a new type of treatment, called bNAbs can keep viral load undetectable without antiretroviral treatment (ART)

You can find out more about the latest study developments at riotrial.org

YouTube video by IAS-USA CROI 2025 Monday (March 10) Press Conference

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnFb...

RIO chief investigator, Professor Sarah Fidler, was also invited to present at the #CROI2025 press conference, on 10th March 2025.

Time stamps of where you can watch about the RIO Trial:
Professor Fidler presents (3:05 – 6:22)
Press questions (16:04 – 20:10)

Prof Sarah Fidler, RIO Chief Investigator, presenting the primary outcome results at the CROI Conference yesterday, 10 Mar 2025.

RIO Chief Investigator, Prof Sarah Fidler, presented the RIO primary results at CROI Conference 10 Mar 2025.

Three quarters of participants who received bNAbs were able to control the virus while off their antiretroviral therapy, compared to those who received a placebo over a 20-week period.

Yes, we need more longer acting options!

Really exciting data on once yearly Lenacapravir. Safe and well tolerated with little injection site reactions, pain reduced with with pre treatment ice. Trough levels higher than twice yearly formulations.

Potentially helpful for pairing with other long acting rx eg. bNAbs in the future?

1st Q down at #CROI2025!

Q: In RIO (bNAbs vs placebo in VS ppl undergoing ATI) how were co-morbidities excluded (18% with rebound in the bNAb arm had VLs >1m & we know, e.g. in REPRIEVE, lots of subclinical CAD)?

A: Sarah Fidler - RIO young pop. In future biomarkers or more invasive tests may help

At the Stand up for science protest yesterday. There was anger, there was determination. As researchers, clinicians, and activists, we stand together as a community.

And the crowd chanted:

ACT UP, FIGHT BACK.

#CROI2025

@riotrial.bsky.social

There was a signal for enhanced HIV specific immune responses (see posters 505 and 506), and early data suggesting decreases in intact proviral measures of the HIV reservoir (poster 513).

BNAbs we're safe with no serious adverse events associated with study drug or ATI.

Some participants experienced extremely high viral loads during ATI, but all achieved viral resuppression after restarting ART.

There were three groups of virological responses seen

1. Those who rebounded early before 20 weeks, likely due to bNAb resistance not picked up by screening assays.
2. Those who rebound after 20 weeks.
3. Those who remained suppressed beyond 72 weeks.