Trials for HIV Vaccine to Start in the US and Europe

A series of human trials set to be launched by the Johnson & Johnson in the US and Europe this year for an experimental Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) vaccine. The clinical trial called the TRAVERSE study, Phase 2, will include at least 3,800 male participants.// The drug maker J & J, along with GlaxoSmithKline, had applied for food and drug administration (FDA) approval of the vaccine. The participants of the study will have six shots of the vaccine in four sessions, and the results of the trials will be announced in 2023.

The main goal of the vaccine is to strengthen the body’s immunity against different varieties of HIV and prevent Acquired Immuno Deficiency Virus (AIDS). Being a tetravalent mosaic, the new vaccine’s “mosaic” qualities carry proteins that fight against different strains of HIV.

HIV attacks the cells of the immune system, thereby lowering the body’s defense mechanisms to fight against infection. AIDS or late-stage HIV occurs when the patient’s immune system is destroyed and no longer able to protect the body. Minor or major infections become life-threatening to the HIV-infected person.

By 2017, around 36.9 million people are infected with HIV around the world, of which 1.8 million people are children 15 years old or younger.

The phase 1 clinical trial of TRAVERSE study started in July 2016 with 201 male participants receiving shots from the US and Rwanda. In 2018, the study presented at the HIV Research for Prevention Conference in Madrid, Spain by J & J showed results to be significant and promising.

Another variation of the vaccines targeting female participants, called the Imbokodo study, was tested in 26 sites in five African countries. The goal of this type of vaccine is to teach the immune system to recognize the virus and fight it with antibodies. The study covered a total of 2,600 female participants of ages 18 to 36 years over 12 months.

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Source-Medindia