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Berlin – Charité Hospital has officially opened its new HIV Cure Research Center, BeCURE, consolidating its efforts to find strategies for curing or permanently controlling HIV. The center’s inauguration on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, was marked by the presence of the so-called “Second Berlin Patient,” one of only 13 individuals globally who are considered cured of HIV.
BeCURE’s Five Pillars of Research
According to BeCURE Director Christian Gaebler, the new center’s research will be structured around five key pillars:
- Basic research
- Clinical research
- Qualitative social research
- Community involvement through a Community Collaboration Board
- Computational Science
“Berlin is very central to this field of research,” Gaebler stated, referencing the first and second Berlin Patients. He emphasized that many insights from HIV research are transferable to other chronic viral diseases, such as Hepatitis B. Furthermore, Berlin’s status as home to Germany’s largest HIV community, with one in five people with HIV in Germany residing there, makes it a particularly crucial location for this initiative.
The History of HIV Cure in Berlin
The journey toward an HIV cure began in Berlin in 2008 when the first person globally was cured of HIV at Charité. This individual became widely known as the “Berlin Patient.” Gaebler remarked, “The history of HIV cure began in Berlin with Timothy Ray Brown.”
Brown, who was both HIV-positive and battling cancer, received a stem cell transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that conferred immunity to the HIV virus. Initially, the scientific community’s attention to this case was limited, with its full significance only becoming apparent later.
In 2024, another cure was achieved. The “Second Berlin Patient,” like all previously cured individuals, was also suffering from cancer in addition to HIV. Diagnosed with HIV in 2009, he received an acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis in 2015. This necessitated both chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.
On October 14, 2015 – precisely eleven years ago – the man received stem cells and a new immune system from a healthy female donor. Gaebler noted that the patient independently discontinued antiretroviral therapy in 2018, and as of 2026, the virus remains undetectable.
Limitations of Stem Cell Transplants for HIV Cure
Gaebler clarified that stem cell transplants are a viable path to an HIV cure only in rare instances, specifically when an additional cancer diagnosis makes the procedure medically necessary. This approach is not broadly applicable.
“Because these therapeutic measures simply carry a very, very high risk and are ultimately not justifiable for a person living with HIV who can be treated,” said Gaebler, who was part of the research team involved in the cure of the “Second Berlin Patient” in 2024. The mortality risk associated with such stem cell transplants is approximately 50 percent.
Consequently, for individuals whose HIV infection can be controlled through medication, this procedure is not considered a standard cure strategy. All 13 individuals worldwide who have been cured of HIV to date have undergone a stem cell transplant.
Exploring Cure Pathways Without Stem Cell Transplants
“The goal must be to find ways that can be widely applied without this stem cell transplant,” Gaebler asserted. This is the driving force behind the new center, with the “Second Berlin Patient” playing a crucial role in its development.
“Individual cases are not scalable, but they provide us with information to develop new cure strategies at the center that do not rely on stem cell transplants,” Gaebler explained. “Our goal at BeCURE is to find cure pathways that can be widely implemented without stem cell transplantation.”
Gaebler highlighted gene and cell therapies, including CAR-T cell therapies, as potential approaches being researched in Berlin. Additionally, studies on immunotherapies have shown that 10 to 20 percent of treated individuals can live without antiretroviral therapy for more than ten years. These immunotherapies are well-tolerated. “For example, we want to research in whom these therapies succeed, in whom they do not, and why not,” Gaebler added.
Collaborating with the Affected Community
A vital component of BeCURE is the close involvement of the HIV community. Gaebler explained that this community is exceptionally well-networked, partly due to historical reasons, unlike, for example, with Hepatitis B. “The community also clearly expresses the desire for a cure: living with the diagnosis not only leads to health burdens but also to everyday hurdles like discrimination and stigmatization,” Gaebler stated.
Globally, approximately 41 million people live with HIV. While modern therapies can effectively control the infection, they require lifelong adherence, and about a quarter of those affected worldwide lack access to them.
Many findings from HIV research are also transferable to other chronic viral diseases, such as hepatitis, Gaebler noted. Therefore, BeCURE aims to develop new strategies for curing or permanently controlling HIV while also stimulating research into other chronic viral infections.
