In this week’s news: New HIV-inhibiting protein found, Bionor’s vaccine targets C5 region, economics of the HIV drug market, Th17 cells have an effect on virus control, latency is established early during infection, latest data from Streek lab

• NIH identifies new HIV-inhibiting protein – the CXCL4 molecule, secreted by platelets, binds directly to the virus and inhibits its ability to infect target cells 
• Bionor's new HIV vaccine moves into clinical trials – the vaccine aims to elicit antibodies to the C5 region of viral envelope, which may be useful in both therapeutic and preventive vaccines 
• Battling the virus – a piece in the Economist talks about the current antiretroviral drug market and how it may be affected by the anticipated FDA approval of Truvada for prevention of HIV infection 
• UCSF researchers identify a potential new HIV vaccine/therapy target – a study in monkeys showed that larger numbers of special T helper cells, called Th17 cells, before infection are associated with improved control of SIV 
• HIV hides soon after infection, research shows – a study of patients with acute HIV infection found that latently-infected cells are formed very quickly after infection, but their numbers can be reduced through effective immune response or early initiation of therapy
• HIV-specific CD8 T cells in acute HIV-1 infection – Hendrick Streek from Harvard presents the latest data from his lab on the connection between CD8 responses, setpoint viral load and disease progression: