HIV Cure: 10 Confirmed Cases Prove It Is Possible

The Oslo patient, a 62-year-old man from Norway, has become the 10th person worldwide to achieve long-term remission from HIV following a stem cell transplant, according to a study published in Nature Microbiology on April 14, 2026.

The patient, who had been living with HIV for over a decade, underwent the transplant to treat myelodysplasia, a rare blood cancer. His brother, who carried the CCR5Δ32 genetic mutation, served as the stem cell donor. This mutation prevents HIV from entering immune cells by removing the CCR5 receptor the virus typically uses to infect them.

After the transplant, researchers at Oslo University Hospital closely monitored the patient, anticipating the possibility of HIV remission due to the donor’s resistant cells. Five years later, multiple tests confirmed the absence of detectable HIV in his body, marking a sustained cure.

“He feels like he has won the lottery twice,” said Marius Trøseid, an author of the study. “He was cured of his bone marrow disease, which could be fatal, and he’s also now cured of HIV, most likely.”

The Oslo patient joins a growing cohort of individuals who have cleared HIV after stem cell transplants for hematological cancers. The first such case, Timothy Ray Brown—the Berlin patient—was reported in 2009. Since then, nine others have achieved similar outcomes, all involving donors with the CCR5Δ32 mutation.

As of 2024, nearly 41 million people were living with HIV globally, according to the World Health Organization. While antiretroviral therapy effectively suppresses the virus, it does not eliminate it, and HIV typically rebounds if treatment is stopped.

In the Oslo case, the brother’s stem cells not only resisted HIV but also repopulated the patient’s immune system with cells lacking the CCR5 receptor, leaving the virus no pathway to infect new cells. The transplant’s success was not guaranteed—engraftment of donated stem cells is always uncertain—but in this instance, the HIV-resistant cells prevailed.

Researchers emphasize that these cases remain rare and dependent on specific circumstances: the need for a stem cell transplant due to cancer, the availability of a donor with the CCR5Δ32 mutation, and the success of the transplant itself. The mutation is uncommon, occurring in less than 1% of people of Northern European descent.

Nonetheless, the accumulation of ten confirmed cases provides critical insights into the mechanisms of HIV cure. Scientists believe these outcomes help refine strategies aimed at broader applications, such as gene therapy approaches designed to replicate the protective effect of the CCR5Δ32 mutation without requiring a transplant.

Javier Martínez-Picado, an ICREA researcher at IrsiCaixa and coordinator of the IciStem 2.0 consortium, noted that the growing number of cured patients reflects more than a decade of international research. “These milestones allow us to better understand how cure occurs and to move toward strategies that can be applied to all people living with HIV,” he said.

The Oslo patient’s case was reported Monday in Nature Microbiology and represents the latest advance in a field that has evolved from isolated anecdotes to a reproducible, though still exceptional, path to HIV remission.