Science in Seconds | A New Path Toward Life Without Daily HIV Pills

Scientists at Gladstone Institutes figured out why some people naturally control HIV even after stopping therapy—and how we can leverage that to treat others.

People living with HIV need to follow a daily regimen of medications (known as antiretroviral therapy) for the rest of their lives. If they stop, the virus usually rushes back within weeks. But a few rare individuals keep the virus under control for months, or even years, after stopping antiretroviral therapy.

Nadia Roan and her team set out to understand why this happens by examining blood samples from people with HIV who participated in clinical trials, during which they deliberately stopped therapy.

In this video, Nadia Roan and Ashley George explain how they uncovered a new path toward long-term health without the need for daily HIV pills.

Their new study, published in Immunity, shows that metformin, a common diabetes drug, might be able to delay—or even prevent—HIV rebound. The scientists are now working to advance their findings into clinical trials that test whether metformin can help suppress HIV.