Antiretroviral therapy alone versus antiretroviral therapy with a kick and kill approach, on measures of the HIV reservoir in participants with recent HIV infection (the RIVER trial): a phase 2, randomised trial
Open label RCT (n=60) found that addition of vorinostat and replication-deficient viral vector T-cell inducing vaccines (“kick and kill”) to standard ART did not improve HIV DNA count in CD4+ T cells vs ART alone.
Source:
The Lancet
SPS commentary:
A related commentary discusses this research, stating that given the absence of evidence for latency reversal and without interruption of ART to fully assess the effect of the intervention, a careful interpretation of the negative findings is needed. Drug development and clinical evaluation of more potent and specific latency reversal agents alone and in combination in people living with HIV receiving ART and finding new approaches to put the kill into the kick and kill regimen are still warranted to determine if this strategy might allow people living with HIV to safely stop ART and achieve a cure.