Very sadly, the clinical trial of the most currently promising HIV vaccine has failed.
The trial was closely watched because experts considered the vaccine one of most promising to be tested on people so far.
This was also the first of a new class of H.I.V. vaccine to get this far in clinical trials. The failure of the vaccine raises questions about whether the new approach will work.
. . . The vaccine was made from a weakened version of a common cold virus, which served as a way to deliver three synthetically produced genes from the AIDS virus, known as gag, pol and nef. Three doses of the vaccine were injected over six months.
The trial, which began in late 2004, involved 3,000 uninfected volunteers, largely in the United States and Latin America. The trial was the second of the three-stage system that the Food and Drug Administration typically requires before it licenses any vaccine or drug.
Results of the trial were not expected until the end of 2008 at the earliest. But in its first planned interim analysis of 1,500 volunteers, the board monitoring the trial concluded that it was already obvious the vaccine was not working.
As the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative points out, though, no one is giving up. In fact, about 30 other different vaccines are currently in development. And after a large public setback like this, support is needed more than ever.
As a side note, IAVI is in fact one of my favorite charities. The donations they receive are distributed to the researchers working on the most promising HIV vaccines, with the caveat that any vaccine discovered with their support must be made available widely, rapidly and affordably in developing countries. And that’s precisely why they belong at the top of any donor’s list. We better hope like hell that IAVI is involved in developing the first effective HIV vaccine in order for it to have any chance of reaching the people who need it most. And money is the only way to make that happen.
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