The available material provides a model system in which to test new antiviral treatment efficacy as well as the development of multi-drug-resistance to HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

Antiviral drug-resistance is the primary source for the decreased efficacy of currently available human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) therapies. The available material provides a model system in which to test new antiviral treatment efficacy as well as the development of multi-drug-resistance to HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors, which is a widespread obstacle of existing antiretroviral therapies. This invention describes a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) that expresses HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. The available virus infects and replicates in macaques and has demonstrated use in the study of drug- resistance in an animal model. This technology represents an advantage over traditional SIVs, which are not susceptible to FDA-approved antiretroviral drugs and as a result cannot be used to study HIV drug-resistance in animals. Thus, the current research tool provides a novel resource for advancing the study of drug-resistance to antiretroviral therapy and has the potential to contribute to the development of innovative therapeutic agents that are successful against drug-resistant HIV strains. Application: Research and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of drug-resistant HIV Development Status: Biological Material is sufficient for use as a research tool Related Publication: Z Ambrose, V Boltz, S Palmer, JM Coffin, SH Hughes, VN Kewalramani. In vitro characterization of a simian immunodeficiency virus-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) chimera expressing HIV type 1 reverse transcriptase to study antiviral resistance in pigtail macaques. J Virol. 2004 Dec;78(24):13553-13561.

HHS Reference No. E-315-2006/0 -- Biological Material Inventors: Vineet N. KewalRamani and Zandrea Ambrose (NCI)

Licensees Sought: Available for non-exclusive licensing under a Biological Materials License Agreement. Collaborative Research Opportunity: The National Cancer Institute's HIV Drug Resistance Program is seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize animal models in which to evaluate anti-HIV-1 therapy. Please contact Betty Tong, Ph.D. at 301-594-4263 or tongb@mail.nih.gov for more information.