Welcome to Day 3 of IAS 2023, the 12th IAS Conference on HIV Science! We have three plenaries today, which conclude with the presentation of IAS prizes and awards. We want to congratulate all of the recipients working to address research gaps in the HIV response.
Coming up today
Satellite sessions begin.
09:00 AEST
The plenary, “The latest in HIV and STI prevention”, looks at doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis for STIs and mAbs for prevention. It wraps up with the awarding of the IAS/MSD Prize for Research in HIV Prevention.
10:30 AEST
The plenary, “Towards elimination”, features Andrew Grulich from the Kirby Institute in Australia (“The prospect of HIV elimination through prevention programmes”) and Natalia Laufer from NBIRS in Argentina (“Pregnancy and breastfeeding in the U=U era”). It closes with the awarding of the IAS/ANRS Lange/van Tongeren Prizes for Young Investigators.
A symposium on leveraging technology to achieve the 95-95-95 targets presents digital interventions to improve access to HIV prevention and testing services, as well as the role of mHealth in delivery of HIV care in low- and middle-income settings.
Today’s final plenary, “Innovations for equity”, includes presentations by Yazdan Yazdanpanah from France (“Strengthening health systems for pandemic preparedness: Lessons from HIV and beyond”) and Moherndran Archary from the Africa Health Research Institute at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa (“Simplified regimens and point-of-care testing for children and adolescents to end the AIDS pandemic”). It closes with the awarding of IAS CIPHER Grants.
18:30 AEST
Satellite sessions take place.
Yesterday
24 July recap
Key takeaways from yesterday are:
A game changer? People living with HIV are substantially more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. Full results from the Randomized Trial to Prevent Vascular Events (REPRIEVE), released at IAS 2023 for the first time, point to a game changer: participants living with HIV who took a daily statin (pitavastatin) lowered their likelihood of major adverse cardiovascular events by 35%. Participants in the treatment group were 21% less likely than those in the placebo group to experience major cardiovascular events during the study period. REPRIEVE had enrolled 7,769 adults in 12 countries since 2015.
Hope for a cure: Delegates were introduced to the “Geneva Patient”, a Caucasian male whose viral load remains undetectable 20 months after discontinuing antiretroviral therapy, in a Track A late-breaker abstract. The man was diagnosed with HIV in 1990 and on continuous ART since 2005. In 2018, he received chemotherapy for biphenotypic sarcoma following a stem cell transplant from an unrelated HLA-matched wild-type CCR5 donor. To date, five people have been considered “cured” of HIV; all received stem cell transplants from donors whose cells have a rare mutation that makes them resistant to HIV, known as the CCR5-delta32 mutation. This time, the donor had normal or “wild type” stem cells – meaning they were susceptible to HIV.
Despite ART suppressing viral replication and preventing disease progression, HIV-1 persists in a long-lived reservoir of latently infected cells, delegates heard in a symposium on why single cells harbouring HIV are latent.
Delegates heard that venetoclax, a treatment for certain types of blood cancer, can preferentially prime latent cells to die and facilitate clearance of the viral reservoir. Using a humanized mouse model, researchers found that daily doses of venetoclax for six weeks significantly delayed viral rebound following cessation of ART.
Good news from the host country: The inner-city area of Sydney has virtually eliminated HIV transmission, reducing new acquisitions by 88%, which is within easy reach of the UNAIDS targets. Australia is now on track to potentially becoming the first country to eliminate HIV transmission. However, even though Australia achieved the 90-90-90 targets in 2020, reaching all 95-95-95 targets by 2025 “is not guaranteed”. New HIV acquisitions have declined, but trends in epidemiological metrics in Australia over 2004-2021 show that diagnosis and treatment gaps remain.
Prevention: A randomized clinical trial from China, presented as a poster, is the first to demonstrate the efficacy of voluntary medical male circumcision in preventing HIV among men who have sex with men. Among 250 HIV-negative men who have sex with men who predominantly practiced insertive anal sex, there were no HIV acquisitions in the immediate circumcision arm and five in the delayed circumcision arm.
Treatment: Interesting results on sustained aviraemia in the absence of ART in male children were presented in a Co-Chairs’ Choice abstract. They came from a longitudinal study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, of 281 mother-child pairs following in utero HIV transmission. It identified five boys born with HIV who maintained undetectable viral load despite low adherence or non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy, suggesting that boys may have a better chance of sustained remission than girls due to innate immune sex differences.
The exhibition
Don’t miss the opportunity to talk directly with representatives from key organizations in the HIV response! If you haven’t already, explore the exhibition in Hall 1 Concourse, Foyer Level next to the Great Hall, as well as virtually.
The poster exhibition
Presenters will be at their posters from 12:00 to 13:00. Here are a few to consider today:
HIV unmuted - the IAS podcast
In this episode of HIV unmuted, the award-winning IAS podcast, we take a deep dive into the breaking science being released at IAS 2023, and explain why these breakthroughs are so important for people living with and affected by HIV.
Language matters
The IAS advocates for the use of language that is inclusive, anti-stigma and puts the person before their condition. For IAS 2023, we provided language guidelines to abstract submitters and invited speakers. We piloted software that screened thousands of submissions, flagged offensive words and provided alternatives to those words. As a result, not one of the abstracts submitted for IAS 2023 included “HIV-infected” to label people living with HIV.
Rapporteur summaries
The rapporteur summaries are your primary source for the highlights presented at IAS 2023. Thanks to the IAS 2023 team of experts, delegates can access daily recaps by each programme track. The rapporteur summaries will be available by 22:00 AEST each day here.
IAS 2023 in pictures!
You will be able to find a selection of photographs from IAS 2023 here. We will keep updating this photo gallery with the best pictures throughout the conference and more photos will also be added one week after the conference finishes.
JIAS supplement just launched
Read the IAS 2023 Abstract Supplement now!
You can access all oral abstracts, poster exhibitions and late breakers from IAS 2023 for free in the new JIAS Abstract Supplement.
In the news
Meet the IAS change makers
Each day, the Daily Digest follows the IAS change makers at IAS 2023. These are carefully selected HIV researchers, advocates, healthcare providers and others we educate to drive an evidence-based HIV response that puts people first.
Today’s change maker is Norman Chong, a medical doctor and activist from Malaysia completing a Masters in Medical Science. Norman is one of 30 young people selected to take part in the IAS 2023 Young Leaders Programme.
As one of four IAS Youth Hub Seed Grantees, he is implementing a six-month project, “We Ask the Y (WAY)”. At IAS 2023, Norman is moderating the workshop, “#StrongerTogether: youth-led collaboration in the HIV response”, at 10:00 today on Sky Level: S1.
Snapshots from IAS 2023
Official media partner coverage
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