Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia - Monday September 13, 1999
Patricia Reaney

Professor Andrew McMichael of John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, who is heading the research, said Monday the dual vaccine, which is designed to stimulate T-cells in the immune system, is one of several preventive vaccines being tested or developed against the virus that has infected 35 million people worldwide. The first part of his vaccine should go into trials in April and the second part in July. It will also be tested in Africa.

"We will start in Oxford and hopefully run the Nairobi end about four months later so they have the added reassurance that it is safe," McMichael told a news briefing at the British Association for the Advancement of Science conference.

"Ideally we would like 30 people but we could make do with about 18. We want low risk people and we want to include women."

The two vaccines are designed to act together to stimulate T-cells in the immune system to fight the virus. It is being developed for use in Africa where the disease is rampant in many countries. Both vaccines are from strains of the HIV virus in Kenya. There are several different strains around the world.

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), a New York-based independent non-profit organization, has funded the research. Experts on IAVI's scientific advisory committee deemed it one of the best vaccines being developed.

Antiretroviral drugs have prolonged the lives of sufferers in the West but the drugs are too expensive for most people in the developing world where 95 percent of all HIV patients now live. A vaccine is the best hope against the disease. McMichael said he was confident that within the next decade either current vaccines or new ones still in development, or a combination, will offer some protection against the virus.

"What I think is likely to happen within 10 years is that there will be two or three (vaccines) in phase three trials, hopefully ours included, that will give some partial protection. I don't think we'll get a hole in one," he said. McMichael said he was also confident that animal studies will provide further proof of what kind of immune response is needed to get protection against the virus.

The first part of the vaccine encodes a short segment of the virus protein to focus the immune response on it and the second part is designed boost the response.

Although the dual vaccine is designed against the A strain of the virus, which is prevalent in Kenya, McMichael said it could be easily changed to fight other strains.

"We are not only trying to get a vaccine that we can test out there but then go on with their help to develop a vaccine that will help in that part of the world," he added.
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