International Aids Society announces 'exciting breakthough' in HIV treatment and prevention

In what it called an "exciting breakthrough" in HIV treatment, the International Aids Society announced that scientists had engineered a new antibody that attacks 99% of known strains of the virus.

The work, which was done in collaboration between the US National Institutes of Health and pharmaceutical company Sanofi was set to commence human trials in 2018 in an attempt to see if it could effectively prevent or treat infection.

After several years of infection, a small amount of sufferers develop so-called "broadly neutralising antibodies" that attack HIV cells and can kill a large number of HIV cells.

Researchers believed that it was possible to treat HIV, or prevent infection in the first place by using these antibodies.

In a study published by the journal Science, researchers discussed the possibility of combining three of these antibodies to create a "tri-specific antibody."

Dr Gary Nabel, chief scientific officer at Sanofi told the BBC, "They are more potent and have greater breadth than any single naturally occurring antibody that's been discovered."

"We're getting 99% coverage, and getting coverage at very low concentrations of the antibody," said Nabel.

Trials saw 24 monkeys injected with the tri-specific antibody, none of which developed an infection when later injected with the virus.

"This paper reports an exciting breakthrough," said Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, the president of the International Aids Society. "These super-engineered antibodies seem to go beyond the natural and could have more applications than we have imagined to date."

Clinical trials were slated to commence in 2018.

Sanofi shares saw a slight bump as a result of the announcement, up 1.77% to $49.95 as of 1225 BST.