HIV vaccine starts clinical trial in South Africa, offers new hope for a cure
The largest clinical trial to test the efficacy of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine in nearly a decade has started in South Africa.
Led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the study called HVTN 702, aims to test an improved version of the sole HIV vaccine to ever show promise in protecting against the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
HVTN 702 builds upon a similar study conducted in Thailand back in 2009. In the earlier trial, the vaccine was found to be 31.2 percent effective at guarding against HIV infection over the 3.5 years that recipients were monitored. The South African leg aims at providing stronger and longer-lasting protection from the virus by raising the vaccine's efficacy to 50 to 60 percent. Results are expected to be out in 2020.
The project targets to recruit 5,400 HIV-negative volunteers who are aged 18 to 35 from South Africa, where the rate of infection is high. According to NIH, more than 1,000 individuals in the said country acquire HIV every day. Enrollment of volunteers started in October.
"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," Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health and a co-funder of the trial, said in a statement.
Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) Vice President and Director of Research Dr. Rowena Johnston is excited about the South Africa trial. "They have a really good lead, and they understand what might work," she shared with FoxNews.com, adding, "They are out in the field testing to see if we can prevent HIV through a vaccine."
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) pegs the number of afflicted with HIV at 36.7 million people, and about 1.2 million of them are in the United Sates, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
