LONDON: Scientists at the University of Oxford have started a vaccination of new HIV vaccine candidates as part of phase I clinical trials in the UK.
The aim of the trial is to evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the HIVCONSVX vaccine – mosaic vaccine that targets various HIV-1 variants, making it potentially apply to HIV strains in each geographical region.
Thirteen healthy, HIV-negative adults, aged 18-65 and those who are considered not at high risk of infection, initially will receive a vaccine dose followed by further reinforcement doses at four weeks.
“Effective HIV vaccines have been difficult to understand for 40 years.
This trial is the first in a series of evaluations from this new vaccine strategy on HIV-negative individuals for prevention and in people living with HIV for healing,” Tomas Hanke’s main researcher said.
, Professor Immunology Vaccine at the Jenner Institute at Oxford, in a statement.
While most HIV vaccine candidates work by inducing antibodies produced by B-Sel-B, HIVConsVX induces the cells of the immune system, pathogens, targeting them to a very neat HIV area and therefore vulnerable to most HIV variants.
“Achieving protection against HIV is very challenging and important that we utilize the potential protection of antibodies and cells of the immune system,” said Paola Cicconi, a senior clinical research colleague at Jenner Institute.
At present, HIV prevention is largely focused on behavioral and biomedical interventions such as voluntary medical male circumcision, condom use, and anti-retroviral drugs used before exposure.
The researchers aimed to report the results of the trial in April 2022.
Similar trials were also planned in Europe, Africa and the US.