Fridae

Charité has opened a new HIV research centre in Berlin, bringing laboratory work and clinical studies together to look for ways to cure the infection or keep it under control without medication. The university hospital announced the opening on 14 October.

The Berlin Center for HIV Cure, known as BeCURE, is led by Christian Gaebler. Its work will include antibody and immune therapies, alongside gene and cell therapies. Charité says the first antibody studies have already started.

The challenge is to find approaches that can be used more widely. Stem-cell transplants have led to rare HIV cures, but carry major risks and are used for life-threatening illnesses such as leukaemia, the hospital said. BeCURE aims to find alternatives to those transplants.

People living with HIV will also help shape the research through a Community Collaboration Board. The centre is based on Charité’s Virchow-Klinikum campus in Berlin-Wedding, where its Brown-Kahlert study centre will conduct clinical trials.