The Top 15 HIV Health Breakthroughs of 2015

From injectable HIV meds via CytoDyn's PRO 140 to HIV prevention via PrEP, from subdermal implants and cellular scissors to x-ray crystallography, this has been an amazing year for medical breakthroughs in HIV.

Here's a roundup of some of the hottest new advances and studies in the field.

Cellular Scissors Chop Up HIV, Says Salk Scientists: Imagine a single drug that could prevent HIV infection, treat patients who have already contracted HIV, and even remove all the dormant copies of the virus from those with the more advanced disease. Salk scientists have gotten one step closer to creating such a drug by customizing a powerful defense system used by many bacteria and training this scissor-like machinery to recognize the HIV virus. Read more here.

Cocaine Could Make You Susceptible to HIV, Says UCLA: New UCLA research offers further evidence that cocaine use disrupts the immune system, making one more likely to become infected with HIV. Read more here.

New Condom Changes Colors When in Contact With STI: A group of UK schoolchildren revolutionized safe sex when they created a new condom that changes color when it comes into contact with a sexually transmitted infection. Read more here.

Aggressive Cuban HIV Strain Becomes AIDS in 3 Years: Researchers with Belgium's University of Leuvan report the discovery of a new strain of HIV which may prove to be far more lethal to patients in the West. Originally found in patients in Cuba, the new strain poses particular threats to those infected with HIV as it can develop into AIDS within three years of infection. Read more here.

Could a Subdermal Implant Mean the End of HIV?: Is the end of HIV near? Findings published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy report that a novel, subdermal implant delivering potent antiretroviral (ARV) drugs shows extreme promise in stopping the spread of HIV. Read more here.

French Biosantech Reports HIV Vaccine is Safe: Earlier this month, researchers from French-based Biosantech Company reported that the company's HIV vaccine candidate is not toxic to 48 HIV-positive patients enrolled in a double-blind study that is taking place in France.
Read more here.

CDC Vital Signs Show Need For Increased Awareness of PrEP: A new Vital Signs report shows that nearly 20 percent of adults who inject drugs, and less than one percent of�heterosexually active adults are at substantial risk for HIV infection and should be counseled about PrEP, a daily pill for HIV prevention.
Read more here.

Researchers Use X-Ray Crystallography to Create Map of HIV: Scientists at the University of Missouri�are gaining a clearer idea of what a key protein in HIV looks like, which will help explain its vital role in the virus' life cycle. Armed with this clearer image of the protein, researchers hope to gain a better understanding of how the body can combat the virus with the ultimate aim of producing new and more effective antiviral drugs. Read more here.

Amida Care, Callen Lorde and The Center Present 'Get Schooled on PrEP': On Monday, November 30, Amida Care, Callen-Lorde, and The LGBT Center presented "Get Schooled on PrEP," an event and webinar on the importance of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, launching Callen-Lorde's new "PreP 101" video series. Read more here.

AIDS Vaccine Initiative and CureVac Partner to Accelerate AIDS Vaccines: "This collaboration could be a real game-changer," said IAVI Chief Scientific Officer Wayne Koff. "The development of vaccines that can generate neutralizing antibodies against HIV is a top priority for IAVI and many other researchers." Read more here.

Revolutionary Gene Editing Technique May Stop HIV in Tracks: A patent application has been filed and testing is underway on the protein called HT-TALENs, which uses a newly developed gene-editing technique to rid the body's cells of the immunodeficiency virus before it has a chance to multiply and possibly develop into AIDS. Read more here.

IPERGAY PrEP Study Reduces HIV Risk By 86 Percent in MSM: The French national HIV research agency ANRS announced results of the IPERGAY trial, reporting that PrEP reduced HIV risk among the MSM who were prescribed this regimen by an average of 86 percent. Read more here.

CytoDyn Qualified PRO 140 for Phase 3, Initiates 1st Clinical Trial: CytoDyn Inc. has approved for release inventory suitable to satisfy CytoDyn's current Phase 3 trial. The Company's 25-week Phase 3 trial includes 300 patients and will require approximately 15,000 vials of PRO 140. They have also initiated their first clinical site for its Phase 3 trial.
Read more here.

Intl. Team Discovers Promising Natural Defense Against HIV: "In earlier studies, we knew that we could interfere with the spread of HIV-1, but we couldn't identify the mechanism that was stopping the process," said Yong-Hui Zheng, MSU associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics and co-author of the study. "We now know that ERManI is an essential key, and that it has the potential as a antiretroviral treatment." Read more here.

The Next Five Years of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Sean Cahill, Director of Health Policy Research at the Fenway Institute, looks at the hope and possibility present in President Barack Obama's National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). Read more here.