The 1st of December, while marking the start of coming together for the holiday season, also serves as a day for people worldwide to unite and commemorate people who have passed away due to HIV. This year, World AIDS Day highlighted the fact that 36.9 million people are living with HIV worldwide and 2.6 million of those are children under 15 years old. Whilst formerly a death warrant, advanced treatments and research and development (R&D) over the past 30 years has condensed the HIV infection to mostly a chronic disease in higher income countries. Nonetheless, in 2014 alone, 1.2 million people passed away of AIDS around the world – 150,000 of them children.
In relation to this, due to a $5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health awarded to scientists at Texas Biomedical Research Institute and collaborators at the Food and Drug Administration, UCLA and the University of Pennsylvania, the potential of a post-exposure vaccine is on the perspective. Over the next four years the researchers will evaluate a variation of possible cures, including investigative AIDS vaccines as well as antiviral drugs. The end objective is to successfully cure both infants and children who have HIV infections.
Previously, a vaccine against HIV has yet to be found. While there is currently therapies, titled highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), which can suppress the virus – there is not a cure. HAART has been verified at being successful in impeding and subduing the reproduction of the virus, but as soon as an HIV-infected person discontinues taking the drugs, the virus returns.
Furthermore, a lifetime of medications is difficult and costly, and pre-natal treatment is not always a viable option. Consequently, the goal is to produce a vaccine that can be controlled after birth to avert the virus from becoming revived when HAART is stopped, fashioning a “functional cure.” Leading the study is Dr. Ruth Ruprecht, Scientist & Director of the Texas Biomed AIDS Research Program, who stated that in the relation to the research, “we are excited to launch this study and develop an attack plan against HIV that could both cure and provide a solid defence against further infection.”
While this research is still in the testing phase, the results could have considerable effects on the public health and eradicating the death toll of HIV. If you are conducting research in biomed, or even for your business in any industry, you could be eligible for tax benefits. The government encourages businesses within the U.S. to do this by allowing business owners to offset research and development with R&D Tax Credits. Moreover, businesses can take advantage of both state and federal credits and can claim the credits concurrently. Innovation can create new opportunities for your business and allow for the creation of new products or solutions to common problems. Contact us today to see if you are eligible to claim the R&D Tax Relief.
