The therapeutic vaccines are a priority research line of the HIVACAT, the catalan programme for the development of therapeutic vaccines and prevention against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This type of therapeutic vaccine helps the patients who are carriers of the virus, combat infection and control the appearance of AIDS in the same way as with the current antiretroviral treatments. The final aim of the therapeutic vaccines will be to avoid a life long treatment with antiretroviral drugs. The research team ‘Infectious Diseases and AIDS’ led by Dr. Josep Maria Gatell from IDIBAPS – Hospital Clínic has developed using the brand HIVACAT, a model of the therapuetic vaccine based on the patient’s own dendritic cells. This reduction in the viral load is still considered to be insuficient but it is the first therapeutic vaccine which has achieved a postive response in the majority of patients.
