[Link] YCombinator-Backed Non-Profit Startup Attempting HIV/AIDS Vaccine

From hacker news:

Instead of using standard vaccine practices (a dead/damaged/live version of the virus) to train your immune system, we are using these synthetic entities called microspheres. They are made of the same material as internal sutures, and your body takes them up and is able to have a memory response.

I know little to nothing about these "microspheres", but a quick search shows that this approach has been considered for over 15 years. It's not clear if there are any widely used vaccines based on biodegradable microspheres, though there is definitely some research going on. If not, I would think that this particular one succeeding first is somewhat unlikely.

Maybe a subject matter expert can chime in.

We’ve reverse engineered the unique targeting capability of HIV controllers, identified their preferred targets on the HIV virus, and developed a unique way to deliver these targets to the human body.

Have they released the specifics of these discoveries? I couldn't find them anywhere on their web site. Given their professed goals, it's hard to see a legitimate reason not to do this.

While I obviously like the idea of a free HIV vaccine, I'm sceptical that a small startup, however well run, can do better than the entire might of the pharmaceutical industry.

I don't know enough about the subject matter to be sure, but I would predict there are good reasons why this technique hasn't been focused on. It would require an implausibly massive level of groupthink for pharma companies and other charities to have overlooked a potential solution for such a prominent (and potentially profitable) disease.