New HIV vaccine set to start human trials next year
The vaccine was able to neutralise various strains of HIV during the animal testing phase
By Steve Brown
A new experimental HIV vaccine is set to start human trials next year.
During its animal testing phase – were the vaccine was used on mice, guinea pigs and monkeys – the vaccine generated antibodies and was able to neutralise various strains of HIV.
The study was led by scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the results were published in the medical journal Nature Medicine.
NIAID doctor, Anthony S. Fauci M.D. said: “NIH scientists have used their detailed knowledge of the structure of HIV to find an unusual site of vulnerability on the virus and design a novel and potentially powerful vaccine.
“This elegant study is a potentially important step forward in the ongoing quest to develop a safe and effective HIV vaccine.”
The vaccine will try to draw out powerful antibodies that could neutralise HIV and human trials are expected to begin in the second half of 2019.
Benjamin Adams told HIVPlus Magazine: “Investigators engineered many immunogens, or proteins designed to activate an immune response, to create the vaccine, using the known structure of the fusion peptide.
“The winning immunogen consisted of eight amino acids of the fusion peptide bonded to a carrier that generated a strong immune response.
“They also paired this immunogen with a replica of the HIV spike. Investigators then tested different combinations of injections of the protein plus an HIV spike in mice and analysed the antibodies that the vaccine regimens generated.
“The antibodies, as planned, attached to the HIV fusion peptide and neutralised up to 31 per cent of viruses from a panel of 208 HIV strains from all around the world.”