Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - July 3, 2003
Aphaluck Bhatiasevi
Charal Trinvuthiphong, head of the Diseases Control Department, said the project would be taken over and jointly run by the ministry and the US Armed Forces Research Institute for Medical Sciences (AFRIMS).
He said the project would not be affected by the California-based firm's departure from another trial that was to have been completed by this year's end.
The ministry's trial involves the use of two vaccines, one of which is Aidsvax, that was used in the Bangkok study and which is facing an uncertain future following VaxGen's withdrawal of its financial commitment.
The ministry's study, which will involve some 16,000 volunteers, will be different from a joint study of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Mahidol University's faculty of tropical medicine, and a collaboration between the ministry and the US Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention.
Dr Charal said there was no fear of a shortage of vaccine supplies because AFRIMS had bought enough vaccines from VaxGen to carry out the five-year study that would now be financed by the US government.
He said although it was likely Aidsvax would not work as a single vaccine, it could still work as a prime booster when used with another vaccine.
The ministry still has to measure the effectiveness of Aidsvax and Alvac, manufactured by Aventis Pasteur, as a combination, he added.
Aidsvax is believed to attack the HIV virus floating in the blood and so does not infect other cells, while Alvac is expected to boost the killer cells which have the capacity to identify and destroy HIV-infected white blood-cells.
Mahidol University epidemiologist Dwip Kitayaporn said the VaxGen's withdrawal from the trial should teach Thailand and other developing countries to be more careful and not to fall into the trap of private business.
"We have to accept that this incident could affect other vaccine trials but is unlikely to jeopardise the other studies," he said.
Dr Dwip said it had raised a lot of questions among the public because it was unacceptable to halt support of a vaccine trial midway on commercial grounds.
"Even if the vaccine is not going to be effective, it would have a lot of meaning and should not be treated this way."
Kachit Choopanya, principal investigator of the Bangkok vaccine trial, said though VaxGen had informally stated their withdrawal from supporting the study, the trial would continue till the end.
He said there was no worry despite VaxGen's pullout decision because most of the work, which involved the injection of seven doses in volunteers and data collection, had already been completed in June.
"What remains is the data analysis, which should be completed at the end of this year with the support of the US government," said Dr Kachit.
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