---
title: "Pharma Company to Start Human Trials of HIV Cure Next Year"
description: "British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline is ready to start human trials of its potential cure for HIV some time next year."
date: "2021-11-29"
modified: "2021-11-29"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/pharma-company-human-trials-hiv-cure"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "AIDS"
  - "cure"
  - "HIV"
---

# Pharma Company to Start Human Trials of HIV Cure Next Year

![British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline is ready to start human trials of its potential cure for HIV some time next year.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/pharma-company-human-trials-hiv-cure.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty / Futurism\</em\>*

British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline is ready to start human trials of its potential cure for HIV some time next year, [*Bloomberg* reports](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-29/glaxo-aims-for-hiv-cure-by-2030-as-it-looks-to-post-split-future?sref=YfHlo0rL>).

Kimberly Smith, head of research and development at Glaxo, told investors that she's hoping the company will come up with the cure "by 2030 if not sooner."

The potential HIV treatment could potentially give those who have been infected by the virus a shot to fully heal — an extraordinary concept for a virus that was once considered a death sentence.

The news comes roughly two weeks after UK health authorities [recommended an HIV treatment drug](<https://www.nice.org.uk/news/article/nice-approves-first-long-acting-injectable-hiv-1-treatment>) called Cabotegravir, also known as vocabria, which was developed by GlaxoSmithKline. The injectable only has to be administered once every two months.

Early trials showed the drug kept the number of virus particles in the blood low enough to not be detected or even transmitted between people.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has claimed tens of millions of lives over the last forty years or so. An estimated 37.7 million people still lived with the virus at the end of last year, [according to the World Health Organization](<https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hiv-aids>).

With a cure on the horizon, though, permanent relief could finally be within reach.

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)