South Africa To Launch Major Trial Of Aids Vaccine

SAN FRANCISCO, November 29, (THEWILL) – South Africa will begin a major clinical trial of an experimental vaccine against AIDS, which scientists hope could be the final nail in the coffin for the disease.

After more than 30 years of efforts to develop an effective vaccine for HIV, for the first time since the virus was identified in 1983, scientists think they have found a promising candidate.

The new study, to be launched on Wednesday , known as HVTN 702, will involve more than 5,400 sexually active men and women aged 18-35 in 15 areas around South Africa over four years.

Anthony Fauci, Director of the United States National institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is taking part in the study described it as one of the biggest clinical trials involving the disease ever undertaken and has revived hopes in the scientific community of a breakthrough in the battle against AIDS.

“If deployed alongside our current armoury of proven HIV prevention tools, a safe and effective vaccine could be the final nail in the coffin for HIV,” he said.

“Even a moderately effective vaccine would significantly decrease the burden of HIV disease over time in countries and populations with high rates of HIV infection, such as South Africa.

South Africa was not chosen by accident for the trial. The country has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world — 19.2 percent according to the UN AIDS agency, or more than seven million people living with the virus.

Each year some two and a half million people around the world are infected with HIV, which has killed more than 30 million people since the 1980s, according to a study presented at a conference in South Africa in July.

The vaccine has been adapted for the HIV strain prevalent in southern Africa from one used in a trial of 16,000 people in Thailand in 2009, which reduced the risk of infection by over 30 percent three and a half years after the first vaccination.

The safety of the vaccine has already been tested successfully over 18 months on 252 volunteers but the new study aims to test its effectiveness. But despite the hopes raised by the new vaccine, experts warn it is vital to remain vigilant in the fight against HIV.

“The results obtained in Thailand are not good enough for a roll-out; we have set the minimum bar at 50 percent,” Lynn Morris, head of the HIV virology section at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD) revealed.

“A highly efficient vaccine would be a game-changer but the results of these trials will take years.

“We must continue to use other HIV prevention tools to reduce the number of new HIV infections, particularly in vulnerable populations such as young women, who continue to be most heavily affected.”

The new trial is being carried out by the US National Institutes of Health, the South African Medical Research Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Sanofi Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.

Story by Oputah David