African AIDS Vaccine Targeted
Updated: Thu, Aug 31 09:35 AM EDT
OXFORD, England (AP) - Researchers began clinical trials Thursday with a vaccine targeted at an African strain of AIDS.
The vaccine is the first specifically designed to combat the Clade A HIV-1 virus, the most prevalent strain in many parts of Africa.
Eighteen people volunteered to receive injections of the vaccine at Churchill Hospital in Oxford. If the tests are successful, trials will begin in Nairobi, Kenya, within six months, according to the Medical Research Council, a government-funded national research organization.
The hope is that the vaccine will stimulate the body to produce killer T-cells that will destroy HIV-infected cells fast enough to stop an infection from taking hold, the council said. If this trial is successful, it will be possible to conduct trials in volunteers who have a high risk of HIV infection, it said.
Professor Andrew McMichael, director of the council's Human Immunology Unit, said it would be three to five years before researchers would have a clear indication whether the vaccine might work. After that, it might take another five years to complete development.
The trial, announced in July at the International Conference on AIDS in Durban, South Africa, is sponsored by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, a global scientific organization, and supervised by the Human Immunology Unit of the Medical Research Council.
Dr. Seth Berkely, president of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, said four vaccines are being developed in his project. This is the first to go to human trials.
The vaccine given to the test subjects contains small fragments of DNA that are intended to boost the immune system. Since the DNA cannot be replicated, there is no danger of developing AIDS from the vaccine, the council said.
In Thailand on Thursday, researchers announced that they have reached their goal of recruiting 2,500 volunteers to test an AIDS vaccine - the first large-scale trial of such a drug in a developing country.
The AIDSVAX vaccine is produced by VaxGen Inc., a California company.
The last volunteer in the Thai trials was enrolled Aug. 24, 17 months after the first six volunteers received their first injections in late March 1999.
All the volunteers are intravenous drug users who tested HIV-negative prior to their participation. Each volunteer will receive a total of seven injections over the course of the trial.
The first test results will become available 30 months after the start of the trials.
Thailand has an estimated 1.5 million people infected with HIV, and caring for the 100,000 people with AIDS poses a high cost to the country's economy and society, said Dr. Kajit Chupanya, the project's Thai director.
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