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The International AIDS Society (IAS) said Brown gave the world hope that an HIV cure was possible. Although for the past six months Brown had been living with a recurrence of leukemia, which affected both his spine and his brain, he remained HIV-free.
Adeeba Kamarulzaman, president of the IAS and professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Malaya in Malaysia, said Brown and his physician Gero Hütter opened the door for scientists to explore the concept of a cure.
“Timothy was a champion and advocate for keeping the HIV cure on the political and scientific agenda. The scientific community is hopeful that one day we can honor his legacy with a safe, cost-effective, and widely accessible strategy to achieve HIV remission and cure through gene editing or techniques that boost immune control, ”he said.
Adam Castillejo, now known as the “London patient,” became the second man to be cured of HIV by bone marrow transplantation a decade after Brown.
Earlier this year, Loreen Willenberg was reported to be the first possible case of a cure for HIV without the risky transplant. Willenberg has been living with HIV since 1992 and, despite not taking antiretrovirals, it was found that she had no traces of HIV intact in her body.
The researchers believe that she may be an “extreme elite controller”, where only fragments of HIV remain and cannot replicate.
Professor Sharon Lewin, IAS President-elect and Director of the Doherty Institute in Melbourne, Australia, said: “Although the Timothy and Adam cases are not a viable, large-scale strategy for a cure, they represent a critical moment in the search for a cure for HIV. “
TimesLIVE
