Natural HIV controllers (HICs) and post-treatment controllers (PTCs) are rare examples of people living with HIV (PLWH) who achieve control of HIV replication without the need for antiretroviral therapy (ART). Therapeutic strategies that can induce such a phenotype are therefore a key goal in the quest for a remission of HIV infection.
JAK1/JAK2 and mTORC1 are key biological pathways involved in the regulation of HIV-1 transcription and replication, as well as the functional capacities of immune effectors, primarily CD8 T cells (exhaustion status and immunometabolic properties), but also NK cells. Immunotherapeutic interventions using a JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor and an mTORC1 inhibitor, alone or in combination to achieve an additive or synergistic effect, are therefore promising candidates to induce a PTC-like phenotype. The use of combined approaches of immunotherapies with different and potentially complementary effects may increase the likelihood of achieving viral control.
This study aims at evaluating the efficacy and safety of three experimental immunotherapeutic interventions (i.e., baricitinib, a JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor, alone; sirolimus, an mTORC1 inhibitor, alone; or their combination) on viral control following an analytic treatment interruption (ATI) of antiretroviral drugs in PLWH who had initiated ART during primary HIV-1 infection. This randomized clinical trial will use an innovative multi-arm multi-stage adaptive design.