HIV vaccine trial gets green light
The go-ahead has been given to test what could become the first ever licensed vaccine against HIV in South Africa.
The trial which is expected to start in November was given the all clear after a small clinical trial showed favourable results.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the US‚ which is funding the trial‚ said that the aim of the trial was to establish if the vaccine is safe‚ tolerable and effective at preventing HIV infection among South African adults.
This new study‚ called HVTN 702‚ is pending regulatory approval and is being led by South African Dr Glenda Gray‚ who is the president and chief executive officer of the South African Medical Research Council.
Gray said that the study will tell scientists whether the initial success observed in the small trial will bear fruit in the form of a safe and effective HIV vaccine.
The director of NIAID‚ Dr Anthony Fauci‚ said that it was the first time in seven years that the scientific community was embarking on a large-scale clinical trial of an HIV vaccine.
“A safe and effective HIV vaccine could help bring about a durable end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and is particularly needed in southern Africa‚ where HIV is more pervasive than anywhere else in the world.”
The vaccine that will be tested is based on the one that the US military tested in Thailand in 2009 which showed that a vaccine to protect against HIV was possible.
The initial experimental vaccine tested in Thailand was only 60% effective at preventing HIV one year after vaccination but decreased to 31.2% after three and half years.
The trial will enrol 5‚400 HIV-uninfected men and women between the ages of 18 and 35 years who are at risk of contracting HIV.
In the new trial‚ the design and schedule of the vaccine has been changed to increase its infectiveness. The participants will receive a total of five injections of the vaccine over one year.
NIAID said that the safety of those participating in the study will be closely monitored throughout the trial‚ and participants will receive the standard care for preventing HIV infection‚ such as condoms.
Results are expected in late 2020.
