Brigham Young University researchers believe they have found a new compound that could finally kill the HIV/AIDS virus, not just slow it down as current treatments do.

CSA-54, one of a family of compounds called Ceragenins (or CSAs), mimics the disease-fighting characteristics of anti-microbial and anti-viral agents produced naturally by a healthy human immune system. It attacks HIV at its molecular membrane level, disrupting the virus from interacting with their primary targets, the “T-helper” class white blood cells that comprise and direct the human immune system. Further, CSAs appear to be deadly to all known strains of HIV.