Wistar Institute has invested $24 million, which will be used on a new center on HIV research, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The new HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center will be created with the goal of going beyond current lifelong treatments to eradicate the disease.

Instead the plan is to marshal world-class scientific talent, research expertise, and community support to discover a cure for HIV and possibly other viral disease threats.

Other specific aims of the center include integrating clinical, virus-fighting methods that mimic and enhance the natural strengths of the human immune system; advancing successes in personalized medicine to create tailored cure strategies for individual patients and patient groups; and expanding international collaborations to ensure cure-directed efforts include researchers and people living with HIV around the world.

Dr. Luis Montaner will lead the HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center as its founding director.

“I am confident we will advance towards an HIV cure in my lifetime,” Montaner said in a statement. “With the launch of this Center, Wistar makes a clear and bold statement to the world that the time to get us to an HIV cure is now.”

Read more about the Wistar’s new HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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