On Novel Anti-viral HIV Gene Editing Platforms

Developing a new drug entity from drafting its structure to market launching is a complex process which can take many years and cost millions of dollars. It may also take many years to grow an idea of supporting evidence before selecting a pharmacological target for a costly drug discovery programme. This reflects a massive investment in terms of time, money, human and other potential resources. Only for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine, scientists have been working over 30 years and it is estimated that $500 million is being spent every year over the last decade on a candidate HIV vaccine [1]. Creating an effective drug against HIV represents one of the greatest biological challenges of a generation. Despite the new entry vaccines in clinical trials and the medical achievements, the fight against the fatal global epidemic virus continues. However, the scientific community has failed to address the scourge of HIV beyond the use of some drugs to control the HIV infection and to reduce viral load. The use of hitherto classical techniques had no promising results since the life expectancy of the HIV patients is very short in many cases. The landscape of HIV treatment must be changed dramatically and new horizons should arise including new strategies for the fight against HIV in the future.