Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, May 19, 1999
The test is based on the genetically engineered vaccine, called AIDSVAX, made by VaxGen, a Brisbane biotechnology firm whose scientists began developing it more than 15 years ago.
A total of 60 cities in North America, including San Francisco, already are participating in the study, which will take at least three more years to complete, said Alvy Holloway, the county's clinical trial coordinator. Then, it will take at least an additional six months to a year to compile the results and send them off to the Food and Drug Administration.
The goal is for a total volunteer pool of 5,000.
Two-thirds of the group will get the vaccine, and the remaining group will be injected with a placebo. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers will know who got the vaccine until the trial is over and the results are tabulated. In theory, the vaccine trains white blood cells to produce antibodies that recognize and attack the same protein, killing the virus.
The volunteers will be encouraged to have safe sex, but the only way researchers will know whether the vaccine is working is if a percentage of the placebo group abandons safe-sex practices or breaks a condom and becomes infected, while a comparable group of vaccinated subjects also takes risks but remains virus-free.
For more information, call Holloway at (408) 885-7008 or (877) 682-9436.
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