Cells that are stressed, diseased or infected contain certain distinct proteins or protein fragments. These so-called “bad” proteins can result from the body's natural attempts to fight off viruses, bacteria, and various diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Dr. Karen Newell recently discovered that these proteins can have significant, possibly harmful consequences.

Fortunately, Dr. Newell has found that it is possible to remove the bad proteins and replace them with others that are not harmful. However, the ability of any particular new protein to replace the bad one depends on each person’s own immune system “fingerprint” which varies greatly between individuals (this is the same reason organ transplants can be rejected if a “match” cannot be found, for example).

Through the use of sophisticated computer models, Dr. Newell has been able to predict when a peptide will be able to replace a bad peptide. As a result of this, it is believed that a series of new peptides can be identified that work to replace the bad peptides across a broad spectrum of individuals with varying immune system “fingerprints”.

Preliminary studies have indicated that TNP, the main ingredient of our experimental HIV/AIDS drug VGV-1, includes several of these potential replacement proteins. We are now studying this further with Dr. Newell with the goal of creating enhanced or entirely new versions of the TNP proteins that have significantly stronger antiviral results and work across a larger percentage of patients for use in the next round of clinical trials.

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