UB researchers help develop new class of powerful antibodies to treat HIV using AI

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Not that long ago, a diagnosis of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, was considered a death sentence. Today, advancements in medicine have rendered HIV a manageable condition that allows most individuals to enjoy a typical lifespan.

What it often takes to achieve that level of longevity, however, is one or more medications that have to be reliably taken daily for a lifetime and it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, explains Nicholas Smith, PharmD, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacy practice in the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SPPS).

At the same time, some individuals who contract HIV never exhibit any symptoms.

“We call them elite controllers,” says Qing Ma, PharmD, PhD, associate professor of pharmacy practice. “And they have triggered scientific curiosity toward the development of a possible cure.”

Ma and Smith collaborated with three other UB researchers, as well as researchers at other universities and the National Institutes of Health, to study a spectrum of powerful anti-HIV antibodies originally identified from the blood of those “elite” individuals. They have been working on understanding one of these promising antibodies, called VRC07-523-LS, which was first developed by the NIH. It works differently in individuals depending upon the severity of the illness.

The UB team’s effort showed how more precise dosing guidelines can be developed for these “broadly neutralizing antibodies” (bNAb) depending on an individual’s specific characteristics.

“They work like a smart missile that can attack many different parts of the HIV virus spike protein that binds to our white blood cells,” Smith says. “Regular antibodies your body makes can only fight one type of virus with limited success, but bNAbs are highly engineered to recognize and destroy multiple HIV strains. Previous studies have shown bNAbs can reduce viral loads in patients, but researchers have struggled to understand exactly how much medicine different patients need.”

Smith and Ma were the lead co-authors on an article detailing this analytical work that was published in the January 2026 issue of Clinical and Translational Science.

The other researchers and authors in UB’s Department of Pharmacy Practice were Raymond Cha, PharmD, clinical associate professor; Gene D. Morse, PharmD, SUNY Distinguished Professor; and Brian M. Ho, PharmD, research fellow, along with Troy Wood, PhD, professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The UB team facilitated the pharmacology planning during the study design and the complex analysis using data from multiple clinical trials that were supported by the NIH.

The team used artificial intelligence, specifically a genetic algorithm, to calculate the dose for each patient’s situation. What they found was that the antibody is more slowly eliminated in patients without active HIV. Meanwhile, at high viral levels, the antibody can be removed more than six times faster than normal.

This means people with an active HIV infection may need higher or more frequent dosing while people who have well-controlled HIV would need less frequent treatment.­

“The hope is that just one injection of future versions of these antibodies can provide protection for more than a year for people who have well-controlled HIV or who are at risk for contracting HIV,” Smith says. “This is dramatically different from most medicines that need to be taken every day and could be the future of HIV management.

“Right now, the best we can do is have one long acting injectable that works for about three months,” Smith adds. “But this very easily could move into a territory where they get it at their annual visit with their health provider just like they would for their flu vaccine. And they won’t even have to think about taking another dose for the rest of the year.”

This will make it easier for patients and health providers alike to control the virus that affects the nearly 40 million people living with HIV globally, including thousands in Western New York.

“HIV is usually so hard to treat because the HIV virus mutates very quickly,” Ma explains. “That’s why people with HIV have had to be on a combination of drugs for their entire lifetime. Using these powerful antibodies, however, could change that paradigm.”

Smith adds that reducing the frequency of the drugs would serve as both a time and a cost-saving measure. As people who have HIV age, this approach would help protect them from the dangers inherent in polypharmacy, another area that Ma studies.

“Basically, the older people get, the more medicines they take, and the more medicines they take, the more interactions they have,” Smith say. “These antibodies, which may be possible to administer in one or two doses a year, could be another tool to help those with HIV avoid these issues as they’re living healthier, longer lives.”

Researchers outside of UB who led the clinical trial include Katharine Bar, from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Lucio Gama, Gabrielle Dziubla, Richard Koup and Leonid Serebryannyy with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Marina Caskey, with Rockefeller University; Timothy Wilkin, with the University of California, San Diego; and Charles Venuto, with the University of Rochester Center for Health and Technology.