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Nearly 40 years of research for an AIDS vaccine was encouraged on Saturday when scientists announced that an experimental drug had triggered an immune response in humans and had protected monkeys from the disease. # 39; infection.
The vaccine has now moved to the next phase of the pre-approval testing process, and will be tested in 2,600 women in southern Africa to see if it prevents HIV infection.
Although the results so far here have been encouraging, the research team of outside experts warn that there is no guarantee that it will actually work in the next test phase called HVTN705 or "Imbokodo" – the word isiZulu for "rock"
"Although these data are promising, we must remain cautious", Dan Barouch, principal investigator and a professor at Harvard Medical School , said. This is not because it protects two-thirds of the monkeys in a lab test that the drug will protect humans. "So we have to wait for the results of the study before knowing if this vaccine will protect humans against HIV." Imbokodo's test results are expected in 2021/22.
"This is only the fifth HIV vaccine concept that will be tested for efficacy in humans in the more than 35-year history of the global HIV epidemic, "added Professor Barouch
. So far, only the RV144 has provided some protection.RV144 was reported in 2009 to reduce by 31.2% the risk of HIV infection among 16,000 Thai volunteers – deemed insufficient for the drug is continued
For the latest study, published in the medical journal The Lancet Professor Barouch and a team tested the drug candidate on 393 HIV-positive adults aged 18 to 50 in Africa from East, South Africa, Thailand and the And United States
Participants randomly received one of seven vaccine combinations or an alternative placebo. They received four shots each for 48 weeks.
Combinations & mosaics & # 39;
The study used combinations of so-called "mosaic" vaccines
They combine pieces of different types of HIV virus to trigger an immune response – when the
vaccine "elicited responses (elevated) body immune systems in humans, "said Professor Barouch.
The tests also showed that the vaccine was safe. Five participants reported side effects such as stomach pain and diarrhea, dizziness or back pain.
In a separate study, the same vaccine offered complete protection against infection in two-thirds of the 72 test monkeys, each receiving six injections with a virus similar to HIV.
"I can not stress how much we need a vaccine … to get rid of HIV completely in the next generation," said Francois Venter of the Institute of Reproductive and Reproductive Health. the University of the Witwatersrand's HIV response in South Africa. "We have been here before, with promising candidate vaccines that have not yet been the subject of a study," he said.
"This one is new in many ways, it's exciting, but we still have a long way to go." 19659002] Jean-Daniel Lelievre of the French Vaccine Research Institute said that the vaccine was probably not the "definitive" version, but may represent "a phenomenal breakthrough."
An estimated 37 million people are living with HIV / AIDS Health Organization.
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