Moderna launches clinical trials for HIV vaccine

January 28, 2022 — Human clinical tests started for an experiment HIV vaccine that uses the same kind of mRNA technology found in Moderna’s hit COVID-19 vaccinethe pharmaceutical company announced this week.

The first vaccines were administered Thursday at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC, the company said in a statement. Press release. Phase I trials will also be conducted at the Hope Clinic at the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

The vaccine is designed to induce white blood cells to develop into antibodies capable of neutralizing HIV, ABC News reported. A booster shot to work with the HIV vaccine is also being studied.

For 4 decades, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has managed to dodge the immune systemtries to destroy it. Scientists have been unable to develop a vaccine, although they have made advances in treatments, such as long-acting injectables for prevention and pre- and post-exposure treatment. HIV can lead to AIDS, which can be fatal.

The statement said 56 healthy HIV-negative adults are participating in the clinical trial, 48 of whom are receiving one or two doses of the mRNA vaccine and 32 are also receiving the booster. Eight people will just get the reminder. All will be monitored for up to 6 months after receiving a final dose.

The immunogens – antigens that trigger an immune response – being tested were developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and Scripps Research. They will be delivered using the same messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in Moderna’s blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine, according to the press release.

About 1.2 million people in the United States were HIV-positive at the end of 2019, according to the CDC, with more than 36,000 people diagnosed in 2019.

the World Health Organization says that 37.7 million people worldwide had HIV in 2020.

“We are extremely excited to advance this new direction in HIV vaccine design with Moderna’s mRNA platform,” said Mark Feinberg, MD, President and CEO of IAVI, in the press release. hurry. “The search for an HIV vaccine has been long and difficult, and having new tools in terms of immunogens and platforms could be the key to making rapid progress towards an effective HIV vaccine that we urgently need. “