Developed by researchers at Temple University is a new compound that could potentially stop HIV from spreading by preventing the virus from replicating.

Published in the January issue of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, is the report on 2-5AN6B (a nucleic acid) that could be a future effective HIV treatment in conjunction with current drug treatments.

While current HIV drugs works by blocking one of the steps towards virus replication, 2-5AN6B inhibited HIV replication in the white blood cells.

According to Thomas Rogers, Ph.D., co-author and professor of pharmacology at Temple:

"This new anti-HIV compound works by a very different mechanism, and would appear to offer the promise of someday being combined with existing anti-viral therapies for a much more effective treatment. It is also very important that this compound is much less likely to be defeated by the ability of the virus to mutate, a problem often encountered with existing anti-viral drugs."

Read the full report.

[Photo Credit: Rhodes College]