African Phase I HIV vaccine trial shows encouraging preliminary results
The multisite Phase I HIV-CORE 006 HIV vaccine clinical trial, run by the Globally Relevant AIDS Vaccine Europe-Africa Trials Partnership (GREAT), has concluded successfully. Preliminary analysis of the immunological trial results demonstrates the induction of high frequencies of broadly specific T cells that recognise functionally conserved regions on HIV-1 and are therefore more protective. Not all T cells are equally protective, and the T cells induced by this vaccine candidate, also called killer T cells, are underutilized in natural HIV-1 infection. Furthermore, the killer T cells the vaccine candidate induced in this trial were capable of inhibiting four major global HIV clades: A, B, C and D. Further analyses are ongoing with the first results expected to be submitted for a publication later this year. All the components of the vaccine candidate were well tolerated by the participants with no serious adverse events reported. Professor TomᨠHanke , Professor of Vaccine Immunology at the Nuffield Department of Medicine's Jenner Institute , the consortium coordinator and lead researcher on the trial, said: 'Over the tenure of this consortium, the study team have evaluated a highly rational, bioinformatics-assisted vaccine design to address the enormous variability of HIV-1 - one of the greatest challenges to the development of an effective vaccine against HIV/AIDS.
