Findings may provide a treatment that enables discontinuation of HIV antiretroviral therapy by preventing re-emergence of the virus
Data to be presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections
Research partners from UCSF and Vitalant to continue studying potential for ITK inhibition to be developed within antiproliferative and “block-and-lock” HIV cure strategies
BURLINGAME, Calif., Feb. 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Corvus or the Company) (NASDAQ: CRVS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced new data demonstrating the potential of CPI-818, the Company’s ITK inhibitor, to reduce the need for chronic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) therapy. The data were presented today at the 30th Annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), which is taking place from February 19-22, 2023 in Seattle, WA.
“The data presented at the CROI meeting support our ongoing research on the role of ITK in the HIV life cycle and the potential for ITK inhibition with CPI-818 to provide an important new approach to the long-term management of HIV disease,” said Satish K. Pillai, Ph.D., co-author and Professor, School of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco and Senior Investigator, Viral Pathogenesis, at Vitalant Research Institute. “These data suggest that the inhibition of latency reversal and the related anti-proliferative effect on HIV infected cells could be used in a “block-and-lock” strategy to permanently suppress HIV once viral load has been reduced to undetectable levels – eliminating the need for life-long antiretroviral therapy.”
For people living with HIV (PLWH) on antiretroviral therapy, HIV can be reduced to levels below detection limits, which enables the restoration and preservation of immune system function, reduces HIV-associated morbidity and prevents HIV transmission. However, in these individuals the virus persists in a latent form in CD4 cells, which are white blood cells that are a key component of the immune system that are destroyed by HIV. Viral latency is reversed if therapy is discontinued, leading to a re-emergence of replicating HIV and the destruction of CD4 cells, necessitating PLWH to be on life-long therapy.
Previous studies have shown that ITK is involved in several steps in the HIV life cycle and in this study, researchers explored the potential of ITK inhibition with CPI-818 to inhibit the latency reversal of HIV. The study was conducted in two models: (1) a T cell lymphoma cell line latently infected with fluorescence-tagged HIV (in vitro) and (2) CD4+ T cells from the blood of four PLWH (ex-vivo). In both models, the cells were stimulated to reverse viral latency and promote viral replication. The cells were simultaneously treated with various concentrations of CPI-818, and in each of the two models, there was a statistically significant and dose-dependent reduction in the reversal of viral latency (P