Vaccine trial set to start in Sydney

From the February 2003 issue of Positive Living • By Paul Kidd

A small phase I/II clinical trial of an Australian-developed preventative HIV vaccine is expected to start at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital early this year, subject to gaining necessary regulatory approvals.

The trial, which will enrol 24 HIV-negative volunteers assessed as being at low risk of HIV infection, is designed to measure the safety and immune response generated by the vaccine, which uses a “prime and boost” approach: an initial injection of a DNA-based vaccine is followed up with a shot of harmless fowlpox virus which has been genetically modified to act as a ‘vector’ to carry HIV genes to boost the immune response.

If the one-year trial is successful, it will pave the way for much larger phase III trials of the vaccine which are planned to take place in Thailand, where the prevalence of HIV is significantly higher.

The Australian-developed project, which is being funded by the US National Institutes of Health, is a unique collaboration between public sector, private sector and community organisations including the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO).

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This article was first published in February 2003 - more than five years ago.

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