# IPDA for High-Priority HIV-1 Subtype C to Enable Global Eradication Trials

> **NIH NIH R43** · ACCELEVIR DIAGNOSTICS, LLC · 2021 · $300,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) is a retrovirus that infects CD4+ T cells of the immune
system. If left untreated, HIV-1 infected individuals will progress to AIDS and may ultimately die as a result.
Combination antiretroviral therapy is extremely effective at stopping the replication of HIV-1 in infected
individuals. Despite the success of this therapy at suppressing HIV-1 replication to clinically undetectable
levels, antiretroviral therapy is not curative. This is due to the persistence of HIV-1 in a silent, or latent, state
within a subset of CD4+ T cells known as resting memory CD4+ T cells. In this latent state, these infected cells
are not targeted by antiretroviral drugs and cannot be eliminated by the immune system. In HIV-1 infected
individuals, latently infected CD4+ T cells are found at extremely low frequencies (~1 per million resting
memory CD4+ T cells), with the majority found within immune tissues at any given time. This population of
latently infected cells is very stable, demanding that HIV-1 infected individuals remain on antiretroviral therapy
indefinitely to avoid rebound of viremia. As such, this population of latently infected CD4+ T cells is the main
barrier to curing HIV-1 infection.
 Developing strategies to eliminate latently infected cells is a major focus of the NIH, NIAID, and the
HIV-1 research field. To demonstrate the efficacy of therapeutics targeting the latent reservoir, we must be
able to measure the frequency of latently infected cells using rapid and accurate assays that can be scaled for
widespread clinical use. Critically, such assays must be capable of accurately measuring the size of the latent
reservoir across viral subtypes. Accelevir Diagnostics, LLC has recently developed the IPDA as a novel digital
droplet PCR assay to measure intact and defective proviruses in a small sample of peripheral blood. The IPDA
was optimized for use in people with subtype B HIV-1 infection, which predominates in the United States and
Europe but comprises on a small fraction of people living with HIV-1 worldwide. In this proposal, Accelevir
Diagnostics seeks to expand the IPDA coverage to include people living with subtype C HIV-1 infection, which
accounts for approximately 50% of all people living with HIV-1 worldwide. Broadly, this proposal aims to
perform in-depth proviral sequencing to inform expansion of assay coverage followed by assay design
adaptation, performance qualification, and analysis of longitudinally collected samples from people living with
subtype C HIV-1 infection. This proposal leverages a close collaboration with the US Military HIV Research
Program, enabling access to a unique and cohort of people living with subtype C HIV-1 infection across Africa.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10324486
- **Project number:** 1R43AI165128-01
- **Recipient organization:** ACCELEVIR DIAGNOSTICS, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Gregory Michael Laird
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $300,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-07-07 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10324486

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10324486, IPDA for High-Priority HIV-1 Subtype C to Enable Global Eradication Trials (1R43AI165128-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10324486. Licensed CC0.

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