Science Daily reports that Gemcitabine & Decitabine – the drugs whose molecular structure is displayed below – have been found to eliminate HIV in mice. When administered in combination, they induce lethal mutagenesis – the virus mutates itself to death.
The drugs are already approved for use in humans as cancer drugs. If they prove effective against HIV and don’t display significant negative impact on human physiology, they could be in Phase II human trials very quickly.
The research was done by molecular virologists Louis Mansky, Ph.D. & Christine Clouser, Ph.D., and medicinal chemist Steven Patterson, Ph.D. Their work was published in the Journal of Virology. Very exciting!