Interleukin-15 to Promote Post-ART Control of HIV

Even though HIV medicine stops the virus from making more copies of itself, the virus remains in the body by hiding inside of immune cells. This hidden virus is referred to as the "latent reservoir." Researchers on this team are studying whether stimulating the immune system can change the nature of the latent reservoir and if this could help people control HIV without the need to take regular HIV medicine. This study is testing a drug called N-803. N-803 is also known as Interleukin-15 or "IL-15", a powerful and long lasting protein that can affect the immune system by stimulating immune cells such as CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. CD8+ T cells and NK cells are both crucial for eliminating infected cells. The drug is FDA-approved for the treatment of bladder cancer, but in this study the drug is being used experimentally for HIV.