New Vaccine Against HIV Will be Developed at a Lab in Gurgaon

Soon an effective vaccine against the deadly Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) will be developed at a new laboratory, in Gurgaon, Delhi. The Translational Health Sciences and Technology Institute (THSTI) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) have signed an agreement to jointly establish, operate and fund this program. The other institutions participating in this partnership include the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

The program will primarily focus on the search of antibodies capable of neutralizing all major circulating strains of HIV. This is one of the greatest scientific challenges to design and develop AIDS vaccine. In order to find out which part of the virus should be targeted with the vaccine, experts in this Indian lab will look for new antibodies and how they bind to the virus.

Secretary of DBT, Mr. M. K. Bhan said, "With 7,100 people newly infected with HIV every day, effective tools to prevent infection are indispensable to the fight against HIV and AIDS. A broadly effective AIDS vaccine would be a powerful asset to efforts to arrest the spread of HIV."


Source-Medindia