Gene and cell therapies do not work in the same way as traditional drugs. AGT103-T is made by taking a patient's white blood cells, giving them a specialized anti-HIV gene, and then giving them back to the patient.
AGT103-T is made from the patient's own T cells, which are a type of immune cell. These cells have the natural ability to recognize and respond to HIV, but because HIV targets and kills these T cells, the immune system loses its ability to fight the virus. Using AGT103 to deliver HIV resistance genes to these T cells turns them into AGT103-T cells, which have natural offensive capabilities against HIV and treatment-induced defensive abilities that protect them from HIV.
In the rare cases where HIV has been declared cured, patients were given bone marrow from rare HIV-resistant donors. The bone marrow cells divided and differentiated to become an HIV-resistant immune system, which allowed the immune system to hunt HIV without being susceptible to infection. Since bone marrow transplantation is a very dangerous procedure, AGT103-T was designed to deliver the same HIV resistance characteristics directly to immune cells without the same dangerous transplantation steps.
Put simply, AGT103-T works the same way as your natural immune cells work -- the only difference is that the modified T cells have defensive capabilities which protect the AGT103-T cells from HIV. This subtle augmentation has the power to remove HIV's advantage over the immune system, leveling the playing field and allowing the immune system to fight HIV like any other virus.