AIDS

Planned AIDS vaccine trial raises concerns

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:59:56 -0400

The AIDS Vaccine Research Subcommittee of the NIH has OK'd a new AIDS vaccine trial, prompting some skeptics to caution against plunging back into trials so soon after a Merck program misfired.

"We're redesigning the aims of human HIV vaccine research without redesigning the vaccine," said Scripps Research Institute immunologist Dennis Burton. "Let's not go into a human experiment without a clear idea of what we're going to learn."

Emory University's Eric Hunter, though, said the new vaccine was sufficiently different from Merck's to warrant a study. The vaccine is based on the adenovirus type 5 and given after a schedule of three DNA-based immunizations aimed at priming the human immune system. Merck's vaccine was administered without the DNA priming.

- read the article from The Scientist

ALSO: Researchers at Mymetics insists that a new HIV vaccine can be successful by building on the experiences of the past 20 years. Release

Feds steering funds back to basic AIDS vax research

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:59:58 -0400

After trying and failing repeatedly to develop an AIDS vaccine, federal officials say they're going back to the drawing board to come up with some new ideas. Anthony Fauci told a summit meeting that "We need to turn the knob toward [basic scientific] discovery--nobody should be unclear about that," according to the Washington Post. And UC San Francisco's Walter Greene backed him up on that point, saying that it's time to execute a mid-course correction in their strategy.

Officials have been forced to rethink strategies after Merck had to halt studies into an experimental vaccine after concluding that its approach likely increased the risk of contracting the lethal virus. The NIH is spending close to half a billion dollars this year on vaccine research. About 38 percent of that money goes to testing experimental vaccines, but Fauci is calling for an even heavier emphasis on funding essential research.

- read the report from the Washington Post

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Insurance fears make volunteers balk at AIDS trial

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:59:55 -0400

A professor at the University of Toronto is warning that researchers may find it increasingly difficult to enlist volunteers for new trials exploring the safety and efficacy of experimental AIDS vaccines. Peter Newman interviewed a group of volunteers who had opted out of Merck's international STEP program and found a common fear that they would test positive for HIV because of the antibodies produced by the vaccine.

Their response: "This could change your life," says Newman. "We are not talking about getting little round spots on your hands or something. We are talking about showing up positive. How can you tell your doctor, your insurance company? Like, how do you deal with that? Because this has a huge stigma for people."

The group also demonstrated a fear they would be denied life insurance or find it difficult to explain a positive test to a prospective partner. But all the reasons add up to one major concern: future AIDS vaccine trials are likely to run into some serious obstacles in gaining enough volunteers for accurate testing.

- read the article from CBC

Related Articles:
Long delay seen for Merck's AIDS vaccine. Report
Gilead hesitant to tout drug for AIDS prevention. Report