New trial for HIV vaccine regimen begins
A person holds an experimental vaccine against the AIDS virus in Shoshaguve, near Pretoria, on November 30, 2016 as South Africa launched a major clinical trial of the experimental vaccine. A new experimental HIV vaccine regimen has been launched for the first human trials. AFP PHOTO | MUJAHID SAFODIEN
What you need to know:
- Women and girls account for nearly 60 per cent of people living with HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa.
- Many HIV vaccines have already been tested, using approaches that have led to effective vaccines.
A new experimental HIV vaccine regimen has been launched for the first human trials, bringing hope to patients as the world celebrates Aids Day.
Through a public-private partnership between the Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the clinical trial will assess whether an experimental HIV vaccine is safe and able to prevent infection.
The new large-scale study (HVTN705/HPX2008), also known as “Imbokodo”, will evaluate whether the vaccine is safe and able to reduce the incidence of HIV infection among 2,600 HIV-negative women in sub-Saharan Africa.
TREATMENT
Although there have been great advances in HIV treatment and prevention, nearly two million people still get infected every year.
According to UNAIDS, women and girls account for nearly 60 per cent of people living with HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa.
“Together with the implementation of existing HIV prevention and treatment strategies, the development and delivery of a preventive HIV vaccine that is safe and at least moderately effective would help bring about a durable end to the HIV/Aids pandemic,” said NIAID director Anthony Fauci.
The vaccine being tested is designed to induce immune responses against a wide variety of HIV strains, to make it a “global vaccine”.
The beginning of this study means that for the first time in a decade, two vaccine efficacy studies are taking place concurrently.
This is because another study, HVTN 702, is currently under way in South Africa to evaluate a different vaccine candidate.
VACCINES
Many HIV vaccines have already been tested, using approaches that have led to effective vaccines for other infectious diseases.
However, the search for an HIV vaccine has historically been challenging due, in part, to the unique properties of the virus, including its ability to rapidly mutate and create multiple strains and sub-types prevalent in different parts of the world.
“Having a preventive vaccine would be a vital tool in a comprehensive global strategy to end the pandemic,” noted Johan Van Hoof, Janssen Vaccines’ head of research and development.
The first participants in the new trials have received vaccinations at clinical research sites in South Africa, which has some of the highest numbers of infections in Africa.
According to the researchers, regulatory approvals to conduct similar studies are being sought from four more countries (Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe).
