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The Novel HIV Therapies: Integrated Preclinical/Clinical Program (IPCP) supports (1) the discovery and preclinical development of new anti-HIV drugs and therapeutic concepts; and (2) the translation of innovative preclinical findings to the clinic via small clinical studies. This grant program funds consortia of investigators from academia and the private sector, working collaboratively on the development of a defined therapeutic concept identified and proposed by the collaborative group. This mechanism is particularly appropriate for highly experimental therapeutic strategies that are new or otherwise not yet ready for large clinical trials.

The IPCP was launched in September 1997 and since then has supported the following research projects, some of which previously had been funded under the NCDDG-HIV and SPIRAT grant programs.

Current Awardees (Preclinical Research):

• V. Prasad, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
  Blocking HIV with aptamers targeted to viral components (2004)
• M. Parniak, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
  HIV RNase H natural product inhibitors (2007)

List of prior awardees

Current Awardees (Clinical Research):

• D. Weiner, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
  Active immune therapy of HIV-1 infected subjects with DNA vaccines and molecular adjuvants (2001)
• R. Johnston, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
  Therapeutic vaccination using VEE vectors (2002)
• A. Landay, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, IL
  Basic and clinical studies of CpG ODN in HIV disease (2003)
• C. Rinaldo, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
  Dendritic cell-based immunotherapy for HIV infection using autologous virus as antigen (2003)
• J. Zaia, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA
  Lentivirus-based immunotherapy for AIDS (2004)
• C.H. June, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
  Lentivirus-based immunogene therapy for HIV infection (2005)
• W.C. Olson, Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY
  HIV-1 therapy with CCR5 monoclonal antibody PRO-140 (2005)

List of prior awardees

Key Accomplishments of DAIDS multi-project programs for therapeutics discovery & development

• Discovery of the interaction between HIV-1 gag and cellular cyclophilins, leading to a drug discovery effort that has yielded a candidate, UNIL-025.
• Development of the concept of co-delivery of molecular adjuvants and viral antigens in DNA vaccines.
• Development of the concept of gene modified stem cell treatment strategies for HIV infection.
• Determination of the atomic structure of the 2-domain fragment of human CD4.
• Discovery of several small molecule inhibitors of HIV, through screening efforts carried out under the NCDDG. A number of these molecules were eventually approved for use against HIV.
• Discovery of PRO-2000, a small molecule inhibitor of the CD4/gp120 interaction. This molecule is now a candidate for a phase III study as a topical microbicide for HIV.
• Discovery of ALX40-4C, a peptide-based inhibitor of HIV that was subsequently shown to function at the level of the CXCR4/gp120 interaction. While the drug was not successful in clinical studies, it provided a useful reagent for studying coreceptor/virus interactions.
• The first DNA vaccine to be evaluated in HIV-infected individuals.
• The first dendritic cell based vaccine for HIV infection to reach phase I evaluation.
• A therapeutic vaccine composed of strings of conserved HIV epitopes. A DNA vaccine based on this concept was tested in HIV-infected subjects and subsequently in healthy volunteers.
• Established the feasibility of cellular immunotherapy for HIV. Both HIV-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T cell clones and CD4-zeta chain-modified CD4+ and CD8+ cells were shown to induce a transient antiviral effect and to home to sites of tissue infection.
• Development of ribozymes and Rev inhibitors as anti-HIV gene therapy agents, from design and delivery aspects to pilot clinical studies.
• The first demonstration that human somatic cells expressing foreign DNA (encoding a protein product) were immunogenic.

Accessing These Resources

• The current Request for Applications (RFA) for the Novel HIV Therapies: Integrated Preclinical/Clinical Program (RFA-AI-07-019) can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AI-07-019.html.
• To determine the suitability of a research idea for the IPCP mechanism and to discuss potential collaborators please contact Dr. Sandra Bridges (phone 301-496-8198; email: sbridges@niaid.nih.gov).