Important note: Information in this article was accurate in October 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. IAVI Report - October - November 2001
Emily Bass
In November 2001, clinical studies continued in Oxford, UK on an AIDS vaccine strategy that uses a naked HIV-DNA construct followed by a second MVA-based (modified vaccinia Ankara) vaccine. Participants in an earlier trial of the HIV-DNA vaccine (begun in August 2000) were invited to enroll in the new study, which will test the safety of MVA as a "boost" and begin examining whether the combination elicits better immune responses than either vaccine alone. The protocol calls for two injections of 5 x 107 plaque forming units of HIV-MVA. So far, nine volunteers have received MVA booster injections.
This trial is the first to test a DNA-MVA prime-boost vaccine regimen for HIV in humans. The vaccines were designed at the University of Oxford through an IAVI-sponsored partnership also involving the University of Nairobi.
Both the DNA and the MVA vaccines have been studied individually in Phase I studies in Oxford, and the DNA vaccine was also tested in Nairobi. The latter trial concluded with the last protocol visits at the end of November 2001. A protocol for a Phase I MVA trial in Nairobi has been approved by Kenyan regulatory authorities.
The new Oxford trial will start the process of determining the optimal dosing and immunization schedule for this prime-boost strategy. If results look promising, IAVI will work toward a Phase III DNA-MVA efficacy trial in Africa, which could start by the end of 2004.
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©2001. The IAVI Report.
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