Oslo Patient Achieves HIV Remission via Rare Stem Cell Transplant

After receiving a stem cell transplant from his brother, a 63-year-old Norwegian man known as the “Oslo patient” has achieved long-term remission from HIV, marking one of only a handful of cases worldwide where the virus has been cleared without ongoing antiretroviral treatment.

The patient underwent an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to treat myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare blood cancer. At the last minute, researchers discovered that his brother carried a rare genetic mutation—homozygous CCR5Δ32/Δ32—that confers resistance to CCR5-tropic HIV-1. This discovery prompted close monitoring of the transplant’s impact on the virus.

Four years after the transplant, all traces of functioning HIV DNA were found to have been cleared in the treated individual. Antiretroviral therapy was discontinued after 24 months and at 5 years post-transplant, no intact HIV DNA was detected in blood or gut biopsies. Replication-competent virus and HIV-specific T cell responses were absent, and HIV antibody responses showed a gradual decline.

Full donor chimerism was achieved, meaning the donor’s cells had completely taken over the patient’s blood and immune systems. This was confirmed in peripheral blood, gut, and bone marrow samples. The persistence of full donor chimerism in the gut—the primary reservoir for HIV—underscores the likelihood of a cure, as the viral reservoir has been replaced with HIV-resistant cells.

The case contributes valuable evidence to the existing knowledge base regarding HIV cure cases. Researchers note that such studies enhance understanding of HIV pathology, molecular mechanisms, and predictive biomarkers that may be of broader interest beyond patients treated with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

While HIV can be controlled with medication that stops the virus from replicating, the virus typically remains in the body and rebounds when drugs are stopped. The Oslo patient’s ability to discontinue antiretroviral therapy without viral rebound represents a significant step toward understanding how a sterilizing cure might be achieved.

As of April 2026, the Oslo patient is among approximately ten people worldwide who have gone into long-term remission from HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant to treat an unrelated blood cancer, with donors possessing the protective CCR5Δ32 mutation.