DETECTION &QUANTITAION OF DRUG RESISTANT MUTANTS OF HIV

Biotraces, Inc., Herndon VA

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the Applicant's Abstract): It is well known that drug-resistant mutant forms of HIV arise in individuals over time. Therefore, it is important to check for drug-resistance even before initiating treatments so the best drug combination for a given individual can be determined. In the absence of drug, drug-resistant mutants are often much less abundant than wild-type virus. As treatment progresses, much of this surviving virus pool is that which is integrated into the host DNA. Thus, monitoring for latent viral genomes is needed in therapy monitoring. Thus, very sensitive and quantitative methods for monitoring DNA for the presence of each and every drug resistant strain of HIV-1 are very important. BioTraces has developed powerful DNA diagnostics based on quantitative PCR assay and MultiPhoton Detection technology. BioTraces has also developed MPD enhanced multiple quantitative PCR, the sensitivity of which is a few copies, and it can measure quite skewed ratios between the two different DNA targets. Development of MPD enhanced techniques for monitoring drug resistant HIV-1 strains is proposed. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: NOT AVAILABLE