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British Columbia Center of Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE)
at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, has received $5 million in funding
for a project to develop an improved HIV drug-resistance test, real-time drug
resistance surveillance, and better ways of personalizing HIV treatment.
The new individualized test, which is based on DNA
sequencing technology, can detect drug-resistant strains. Also, using the
patient’s DNA, two types of tests—viral and human genomic—will enable doctors
to determine the best antiretroviral drugs to reduce the virus in the patient’s
blood and minimize adverse reactions, thus preventing non-adherence.
The researchers also will develop a new early warning system
to monitor and map drug resistance and indicate geographic or population
“hotspots” where resistance is highest and transmission risk greatest.
The test at the BC-CfE labs will be available for all
Canadian HIV patients through their doctors, and the researchers plan to share
the technology with labs globally.
Genome BC, Genome Canada, Genome Quebec, the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research, ViiV Health care and the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation
are funding the project.
