Scientists are developing a drug that may be effective in treating two sexually transmitted infections at once - HIV and genital herpes - as well as potentially preventing the spread of HIV from one person to another. Researchers in Belgium say the experimental drug, dubbed PMEO-DAPym, can tackle both HIV and HSV (herpes simplex virus).
The drug can prevent HIV from multiplying, making the cells targeted by the virus less susceptible to infection. There are drugs already on the market that are both anti-HIV and anti-HSV - tenofovir and adefovir. But these drugs do not have the ability to stop the spread of the HIV virus as well as targeting particular cells. PMEO-DAPym can do this by effectively “down-modulating” the CCR5 receptor. This is a molecule on the surface of human immune cells that the HIV virus exploits to enter and infect the cells.
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