Japan could become one of the first countries in the world to end the HIV epidemic, says the president of Gilead Sciences Japan, Kennet Brysting. The idea for now could seem a little too ambitious, but it is not entirely unrealistic, given that the availability of medicines that can prevent transmission of HIV. Drugs are not the cure, but control over the spread of virus to the point where the disease is no longer a major public health threat.

What Is The Role Of Preventative HIV Medicines?

Gilead's have two key drugs, Truvada and lenacapavir. These two are playing a crucial role in prevention. Truvada is taken as a daily pill, while lenacapavir requires two injections per year. It can make the virus undetectable in infected individuals and prevent transmission to those who are not infected yet. In trials, lenacapavir showed 100% efficacy in preventing HIV infections. This is why it is describe as "almost a vaccine".

In 2024, Japan also approved Truvada for HIV prevention, but the country has yet to approve lenacapavir for the same. Until now, people in Japan had been importing generic versions of Truvada or purchasing it from clinics that source it from overseas.

HIV In Japan

Up until now, Japan reported around 25,000 HIV infections, whereas 669 new cases were reported in 2023. For seven consecutive years, the number of new infections remained under 1,000. The downward trend thus shows that the virus has been controlled, however, getting to zero new infections remains the ultimate goal.

Brysting too acknowledged that simply having effective drug is not enough. What is important is to have a proper implementation, access and healthcare support to make sure that these treatments are widely available and effective.

What Are The Challenges In Implementation?

The biggest challenges is testing rates. There is a need to increase testing rates. At this very moment, around 86% people infective with Japan have been tested, but the goal is to increase it up to 95%, with an ideal goal of 100%. Without widespread testing, many infected people may not even know that they are infected and it could transmit the virus.

Another measure issue is the cost of preventative medication. While Japan's health insurance covers treatments for diseases, it does not cover preventative drugs. Those who purchase Truvada for prevention, pay around $470 per month. Some clinics in Tokyo offer generic alternatives too, which is cheaper, but they are not ideal.

Better Healthcare Support

Brysting expressed concern that individuals importing medications might not be consulting doctors regularly, which is essential for monitoring HIV status and overall health. Truvada users need to be tested for HIV initially and every three months, along with screenings for other infections and kidney function checks. Without proper medical supervision, there is a risk of misuse and inadequate protection.

Gilead is in discussions with Japanese authorities to improve access and insurance coverage for Truvada, and progress is being made. Japan has shown efficiency in approving critical medicines, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic when Gilead’s remdesivir was approved in just three days.

What Is The Way Ahead?

Gilead at this moment is not only focused on HIV and hepatitis C, but also expanding into oncology with innovative treatments like CAR-T cell therapy, which strengthens a patient's immune system to fight cancer.

However, Japan’s strict approval processes can slow down drug availability. Phase 3 clinical trials often need to be conducted within the country, and Japan tends to approve medicines much later than other regions. For instance, Truvada was approved for prevention in Japan 12 years after the U.S. and nearly 20 years after its approval for treatment. inancial factors also play a role. The Japanese government adjusts drug prices annually, often reducing them, which can make long-term investment challenging for pharmaceutical companies.

Cancer drug research may undergo a significant shift as scientists are not just studying what happens to a cell after treatment, but watch the process unfold in real time.

Indian-origin biotech entrepreneur Parmita Mishra is developing a live-cell technology that combines Raman spectroscopy, photonics, microfluidics and computational biology to continuously monitor living cells without fluorescent labels or destructive sample preparation.

The approach, described by the researchers as “live-cell cinema,” aims to address a longstanding problem in drug discovery: conventional laboratory techniques often provide snapshots of cellular behaviour rather than a continuous picture of how cells respond to treatment and other changes.

Mishra said, "Biology is constantly moving, yet for decades we have largely studied it through static snapshots. If we want to understand why cancer cells change, adapt or resist therapy, we need technologies that allow us to observe living biology continuously rather than after the fact. Our mission is to give researchers that capability."

Why This Could Be Game Changing In Cancer Drug Research?

Traditional experiments require cells to be fixed, stained, lysed or otherwise destroyed before researchers analyse them. Even studies that examine multiple time points may rely on different populations of cells at each stage of the research.

A recent Drug Discovery News report highlighted research that cancer cells can move through intermediate molecular states as they develop treatment resistance, suggesting that important biological changes may occur before resistance becomes obvious.

The idea behind live-cell examination is therefore simple: if biology changes continuously, why should scientists only measure it at the end?

Also read: Lung Health After 40: Natural Changes, Warning Signs And Ways To Protect Your Lungs

How Does The Technology Work?

Raman spectroscopy analyses how light interacts with molecules, producing chemical information without necessarily requiring dyes or labels.

Its system combines this optical technology with microfluidic chips that maintain cells under controlled conditions, including temperature, nutrients and carbon dioxide. This allows researchers to observe the same living cells as their biology changes.

Mishra said that artificial intelligence can process enormous amounts of information, but its utility in drug discovery depends on having better biological data to learn from.

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How Could This Impact Cancer Drug Discovery?

By capturing biochemical changes continuously, technologies such as live-cell Raman imaging could potentially help researchers identify drug responses, toxicity or resistance earlier during preclinical testing.

Dr. Shyam Aggarwal , Chairperson, Department of Medical Oncology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi said “Real-time observation technologies could help researchers better understand how cells respond to candidate drugs, monitor subtle biochemical changes earlier, and potentially identify promising therapies more efficiently during preclinical research. Understanding precision oncology with CGP comprehensive genome profiling and MRD minimal residual disease detection will help physicians improve targeted personised medicine for cancer patients. While such technologies are not themselves treatments, they may strengthen the scientific foundation on which future therapies are developed.”

For cancer research, that window could eventually help scientists understand not only whether a drug works, but how a living cancer cell changes while the drug is working.

Mishra further added "We are not trying to replace scientists or physicians—we are trying to give them a better window into living biology," "When researchers can continuously measure how cells behave instead of relying on biological 'autopsies,' they may uncover insights that were previously impossible to observe. That has implications far beyond cancer, extending into immunology, neuroscience, rare diseases and regenerative medicine. "For decades, we've been studying life after it has stopped.The future of biomedical research lies in understanding life while it is still unfolding."

However, the technology is still being developed and requires independent validation before its potential impact on drug discovery can be established.

Dr Rahul Bhargava, Principal Director of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram said “Cancer is an extraordinarily dynamic disease, and researchers around the world are exploring technologies that can better capture how living cells change over time. Innovations that enable continuous, non-invasive observation of cellular behavior could become valuable research tools for improving disease models and accelerating drug discovery. While clinical validation remains essential, this represents an exciting direction for biomedical science."

90s star Samuel Monroe Jr., best known for his role in the 1993 film Menace II Society, remains critically ill in a Los Angeles hospital. His family is now facing the possibility that he may end up in a vegetative state.

According to the latest update shared by his wife, Shawna Stewart, Monroe is in a medically induced coma and remains on life support.

Doctors have said that he could ultimately be left in that life state as complications in his brain continue to worsen.

What Happened To Samuel Monroe Jr.?

Samuel's health crisis reportedly began with meningitis. Stewart previously said he contracted the infection while filming in Las Vegas around 18 months before his hospitalization, but the illness was repeatedly misdiagnosed.

“Because of this negligence, the meningitis went untreated for eight months,” Stewart said. She also said that by the time it was diagnosed, the infection had spread to his spine and brain.

His condition later became more complicated after he developed MRSA pneumonia, a serious infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. He needed life support, dialysis, and multiple blood transfusions for several months.

There was some improvement in his health in May. His kidney function improved enough for doctors to stop dialysis; he was taken off blood-pressure medication and was able to breathe without a ventilator for about four hours.

He was also reportedly alert and well enough to answer questions by moving his head. But that phase did not last.

Also read: Alex Hughes: Former Manchester United Star’s Son Dies of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome

What Does Vegetative State Mean?

A vegetative state is different from a coma, although both involve severe impairment of consciousness.

A person in a vegetative state may have periods of wakefulness, like opening their eyes, but may not show any sign of awareness of themselves or their surroundings. Basic functions like breathing and sleep-wake cycles can continue.

Importantly, doctors cannot determine an individual's neurological outcome from one symptom alone. The extent and location of brain injury, neurological examinations and repeated imaging, and other assessments are considered.

Also read: Donald Trump Mulls Order Targeting Childhood Vaccines And Autism

Samuel Monroe Jr's Family Faces A Challenging Decision

Stewart told TMZ that Monroe’s brain continues to swell and that his brain ventricles have enlarged and are struggling to properly contain cerebral fluid. The pressure and complications in his brain have triggered seizures.

Monroe has undergone three brain surgeries, while his left lung has also partially collapsed. Doctors are continuing to perform CT scans to assess his brain activity and condition.

Brain swelling is particularly dangerous as the skull is a rigid body part. When fluid or swelling increases inside it, pressure can rise and potentially damage brain tissue.

Severe or prolonged swelling can affect consciousness, movement, communication, and other essential neurological functions.

According to reports, Monroe’s family is not making an immediate decision about his life support.

Stewart said the family has agreed to wait for three or four more CT scans before making a decision. Depending on those scans, the family may have to take the decision of withdrawing life support.

In a major scientific breakthrough, researchers at Stanford University have used artificial intelligence (AI) to design entirely new viruses that do not exist in nature.

The AI-generated viruses successfully killed Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria that had become resistant to naturally occurring bacteriophages (phages)—viruses that infect and destroy bacteria—offering new hope for tackling antibiotic-resistant infections.

The study, published in the journal Science, also raises important biosafety concerns, as the same technology could potentially be misused to design harmful pathogens.

How AI Created the Viruses?

Chemical engineer Brian Hie and bioengineering graduate student Samuel King developed Evo 2, a generative AI model capable of writing complete DNA sequences and designing entirely new genomes.

The researchers focused on bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria and are already being explored as alternatives to antibiotics for treating difficult bacterial infections.

Using genomes designed by Evo 2, the team synthesized nearly 300 novel phages and tested them against E. coli. From these, they identified 16 highly effective phages that successfully killed bacteria resistant to naturally occurring phages.

The researchers believe the ability to rapidly design customized phages could transform phage therapy and expand the arsenal against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The team redesigned bacteriophage ΦX174, one of the simplest known viruses. Despite its small size, ΦX174 efficiently infects and kills bacteria, making it a valuable model for developing new phage therapies.

A New Weapon Against Antibiotic Resistance

One of the biggest challenges in infectious disease treatment is that bacteria eventually develop resistance to antibiotics—and even to individual phages. To overcome this, the researchers designed a genetically diverse cocktail of 16 AI-created phages.

"If the bacteria gain resistance to a single phage, it's game over for the medication," Hie said. "But if you have multiple genetically distinct phages in a mixture, it would be harder for the bacteria to develop resistance to the entire cocktail."

The team showed that the phage cocktail successfully eliminated E. coli strains that had become resistant to the natural ΦX174 virus.

"We have a proof of concept in the paper, where we show that this cocktail of 16 phages rapidly overcomes resistance in E. coli that is immune to native ΦX174," Hie said.

Potential Beyond E. coli

Researchers believe the same AI-driven approach could eventually be used to develop phages against other drug-resistant bacteria, including:

• Mycobacterium tuberculosis (tuberculosis)
• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a leading cause of antibiotic-resistant hospital-acquired infections

If successful, AI-designed phage cocktails could provide a powerful alternative to conventional antibiotics, whose effectiveness continues to decline because of antimicrobial resistance.

Biosafety Concerns Grow

The researchers have made Evo 2 freely available as open-source software, allowing scientists around the world to design and study new genomes.

While this could accelerate advances in medicine and biotechnology, experts say it also highlights the urgent need for stronger oversight.

"The ability to compose viral genomes using generative AI now exists; the governance to safely steer it does not," wrote Prof. Tom Inglesby and Dr. Moritz Hanke of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University in an accompanying Science commentary.

Tom Ellis, Professor of Synthetic Genome Engineering at Imperial College London, described the research as impressive but cautioned that AI could theoretically be used to design harmful viruses if trained on the genetic code of dangerous pathogens, The Guardian reported.

However, he said safeguards—such as restricting access to sensitive genetic data and screening synthetic genomes before they are manufactured—could help reduce those risks.