First Phase II Trial of a “Global” HIV/AIDS Vaccine Launched

The experimental vaccine was developed by scientists at NIAID’s Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center (VRC) and is being studied in the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), a clinical research collaboration funded by NIAID’s Division of AIDS (DAIDS).

“This trial marks an important step in the advancement toward an AIDS vaccine. The rapid development of this candidate vaccine — less than five years since the launch of the VRC — underscores our commitment to hasten the day when we have an effective AIDS vaccine,” says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.

The unique vaccine combines synthetically modified elements of four HIV genes found in subtypes A, B and C of the virus — the subtypes commonly found in Africa, the Americas, Europe and parts of Asia. These subtypes represent about 85 percent of the HIV infections worldwide.

“This is the first Phase II study of a vaccine candidate that is broadly relevant to the global AIDS pandemic because it combines components of HIV strains found throughout the world,” says VRC Director Gary Nabel, M.D., Ph.D. “We look forward to working with our partners in the United States and abroad as we take this vaccine into the next phase of clinical evaluation.”

The trial, known as HVTN 204, is being coordinated with two other planned clinical studies, an unprecedented collaboration among researchers in three clinical trial networks and NIAID. The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative plans to conduct a Phase I study of the VRC vaccine at sites in Kenya and Rwanda, and the U.S. Military HIV Research Program plans Phase I and II studies at sites in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania; the studies are contingent on the appropriate regulatory and ethical approvals being granted in these countries.

About the Vaccine
The three harmonized trials will be testing a “prime-boost” strategy composed of two vaccine components given at different times. Both contain synthetic versions of four HIV genes: gag, pol, nef and env. The gag, pol and nef genes come from HIV subtype B, the primary virus found in Europe and North America. Env, the fourth gene, codes for an HIV coat protein that allows the virus to recognize and attach to human cells. The vaccine incorporates modified env genes from subtypes A and C, most common in Africa and parts of Asia, as well as subtype B.

The two vaccine components differ in how the genes are packaged. One contains only the naked gene fragments, which cannot reconstitute into an infectious virus. The other uses a weakened type of respiratory virus known as adenovirus as a vector to shuttle the non-infectious gene fragments into the body.

Adenoviruses cause upper respiratory tract illness, such as the common cold. However, because the vaccine contains only HIV gene fragments housed in an adenovirus that cannot replicate, study participants cannot become infected with HIV or get a respiratory infection from the vaccine.

“The use of adenovirus vectors appears to be the most promising advance in recent years in the search for an HIV vaccine,” says Peggy Johnston, Ph.D., director of the Vaccine and Prevention Research Program in DAIDS, NIAID. Lawrence Corey, M.D., principal investigator of the HVTN, adds, “We are excited to work with the VRC on this new vaccine candidate. This prime-boost approach incorporating adenovirus vector seems to generate the type and quantity of immune responses we feel will be necessary to impact an infection like HIV. This study will define more completely the levels of immunity this novel approach will achieve in a broad range of people.”

Message posted by: Rashmi Nemade