The ANRS Rhiviera consortium

What are the objectives of the Rhiviera consortium?

The objectives of ANRS Rhiviera are to :

1. understand the mechanisms underlying control of infection without treatment,
2. identify predictive markers of control or viral relapse after treatment interruption,
3. develop strategies allowing a large majority of HIV-infected patients to achieve HIV remission.

To fulfil these goals and objectives ANRS Rhiviera is conducting ambitious translational projects, through public and private partnerships, to gain knowledge on the establishment of cellular HIV reservoirs and body sanctuaries, to develop technologies and markers to identify and evaluate the reservoirs, as well as to characterize immune responses able to control or eliminate the infected cells. ANRS RHIVIERA focuses on the benefits achieved through early cART initiation, and also tries to identify optimal drug combinations ensuring optimal diffusion in tissues that may further limit the establishment and replenishment of the reservoir and preserve immune responses. These studies rely on the combination of basic and clinical research and the access to unique cohorts of HIV-infected individuals and equivalent models on non-human primates.

ANRS Rhiviera is now engaging in pre-clinical and clinical proof of principle studies to explore some of the potential clues arising from the overall research program.

Rhiviera: on the road to cure for people living with HIV

Watch the Rhiviera consortium presentation by its principal investigator, Asier Saez-Cirion, associate professor at Institut Pasteur Paris :

Latestest news

Two studies identify new biomarkers of post–treatment viral control

February 2026 – Nature Communications. Two new studies published in Nature Communications, several of whose authors are involved in the Rhiviera consortium, have now followed up on the pVISCONTI cohort study promoted by ANRS MIE.

As a reminder, the latter study demonstrated, using a primate model of SIV infection (simian immunodeficiency virus, i.e. non-human), that the early initiation of antiretroviral treatment within four weeks of infection strongly promotes viral control and a reduction in viral load even after treatment is discontinued. However, starting antiretroviral treatment too early or too late can subsequently prevent viral control due to an excessively high viral load, not in the blood, but in certain tissues known as ‘reservoirs’.

The first study, through the analysis of macaques infected with the SIVmac251 strain and characterised by either effective or ineffective viral control following treatment interruption, identifies biological markers capable of predicting the extent of viral control or viral rebound even before treatment is interrupted. Indeed, in treated individuals, the level of HIV provirus is already lower in their lymph nodes prior to treatment interruption than in others, and this coincides with a higher level of anti-SIV CD8+ T-lymphocytes.

Another study, also published in Nature Communications in February 2026 and involving some of the same authors, further refines the characterisation of post-treatment viral control. Again drawing on the primate model of SIV infection from the pVISCONTI study, it identifies the intestinal CX3CR1 macrophage as another potential biomarker of viral control in the regulation of mucosal immunity.

Carine Van Lint, a member of the consortium, receives the KT Jeang Retrovirology Award 2025

February 2026. Carine Van Lint, an FNRS Research Director in molecular virology at the Université libre de Bruxelles, has been honoured by the journal Retrovirology with an award established in 2005 in tribute to the researcher Kuan–Teh Jeang, for her work on HIV–1 latency and its reactivation.

HIV persistence despite long-term viral suppression

January 2026 – Communications Medecine. Although antiretroviral therapy is able to block HIV-1 transcriptional activity in people living with HIV, it is unable to eradicate the virus due to the establishment of the HIV-1 reservoir. ANRS MIE implemented in 2022 the DOLUVOIR study to better understand mechanisms underlying the establishment of this reservoir.

The ANRS EP64 DOLUVOIR team investigated HIV-1 persistence across five anatomical compartments in 20 men living with HIV receiving a successful modern first-line antiretroviral regimen including dolutegravir.

The results showed that HIV-1 persistence remains detectable in several tissues despite long-term viral suppression. No evidence of ongoing selection of dolutegravir resistance mutations was observed.

The Rhiviera consortium’s objectives achieved by 2024:

• Publication of the princeps manuscript of the primate-VISCONTI study showing the benefit of two years of ART initiated 4 weeks vs 6 months after infection in promoting post-treatment SIV control in SIVmac251 infected macaques  (Passaes et al Nat Com, 2024). To find out more, read the press release.
• Start of inclusion in the ANRS 176 RHIVIERA 02 trial in April 2024.

The Rhiviera consortium’s objectives achieved by 2023:

• Identification of a new family of broadly neutralizing antibodies in a post-treatment controller from the ANRS VISCONTI study (Molinos-Albert et al, Cell Host&Microbe 2023 ; Nat Com 2022).
• IInitiation of the ANRS 175 RHIVIERA 01 trial in March 2023: 16 participants have been enrolled ed. The primary objective of the trial is to evaluate the probability of control of HIV infection, defined as a viral load (VL) < 400 cp/mL, following an analytical interruption of antiretroviral treatment (IAT) in early-treated participants from the ANRS CO6 PRIMO cohort with the MHC B35/53 Bw4TTC2 genotype.
• Funding obtained for the project Development of an adjuvanted mRNA lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vaccine platform to induce effective anti-HIV immunity. The development of innovative approaches to combat HIV infection, including prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines, remains a priority if the HIV/AIDS pandemic is to be brought to an end. The mRNA lipid nanoparticle (LNP) platform shows very promising potential for vaccination. However, there is evidence that its immunogenicity and long-term efficacy need to be enhanced, which is usually achieved through the effects of adjuvants. The aim here is to develop and evaluate the reactogenicity and potential for inducing effective HIV/SIV-specific immunity of a vaccine platform combining mRNA-LNP and a STING agonist as adjuvant (principal investigator: Victor Appay) (ANRS MIE funding evaluated by CSS11 “Basic research on HIV/AIDS: from virus to host”).

Find out more about Rhiviera Read the press release on the p-VISCONTI study

Next RHIVIERA seminar

May 12 2026 – “NK cells as drivers of HIV reservoir cell selection”

The RHIVIERA Consortium is pleased to invite you to a scientific webinar with Prof. Mathias Lichterfeld (Harvard Medical School) focusing on NK cells as key drivers of HIV reservoir cell selection.

Date & time: May 12, 2026 – 6:00 PM (Paris time)
Format: Online webinar

A connection link will be sent to registered participants. Registration is free but mandatory.

Registration