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The Daily OrangeThe shot heard 'round the world: Patient trials in Thailand produce most effective AIDS vaccine to date
By Stephanie Smith
Posted: 10/5/09, 3:41 AM EST Section: News
Scientists have developed one of the first effective AIDS vaccines, the Thailand Ministry of Public Health announced Sept. 24.
A $105 million trial for the newly developed vaccine, RV 144, yielded a 31.2 percent effective rate in those with HIV, a higher percentage than any other vaccine to date.
"For over two decades we have been trying to discover something that can help cure or prevent AIDS," said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the sponsors of the trial. "This is a major breakthrough and although only a minimal number of patients were aided, this small step is very beneficial and gives hope on further research."
The Thailand Ministry of Public Health began conducting a trial for the vaccine in October 2003 on 16,402 volunteers. The volunteers, between the ages of 18 and 30, had a prerequisite that they had to be negative for HIV. The volunteers also had to attend mandatory meetings about HIV prevention.
Half of the volunteers received six injections of the AIDS vaccine, while the other half received a placebo. Over the next three years, all of the volunteers were regularly tested for HIV.
One hundred and twenty-five participants in the whole volunteer group tested positive for HIV after the three years. Seventy-four participants that had contracted HIV received a placebo during the trial. The remaining 51 were given the vaccine. This showed a 31.2 percent effective rate of RV 144, according to the article in The New York Times.
This is a modest result, Fauci said, and although significant it is highly unlikely that this is the end of the road for a cure. Success percentages should at least range from 60 to 80 percent in order to use the vaccine on a larger scale in the United States, Fauci said.
"Once we have these percentages, this is when we will know that we have an effective product," he said.
The RV 144 vaccine is a combination of two previous vaccines produced by medical companies Sanofi-aventis and Genentech. The Sanofi-aventis vaccine, ALVAC-HIV, is a combination of a canarypox virus and three different AIDS gene strands. Genentech's AIDSVAX contains a protein from the AIDS virus. Separately, the vaccines did not get significant results, according to a September article in The New York Times.
The combination of the Sanofi-aventis and Genentech vaccines contributed to the success of the vaccine, Fauci said. The results of the trial can further research with newer developments and vaccines, he said.
Another major issue with the vaccine is that it protected some people and not others, likely a result of biological variability, Fauci said. Each human is built in a different way, so a single vaccine would not protect everyone, he said.
"Some people have a weaker immune response while others have a potent immune response," he said.
sasmit12@syr.edu
A $105 million trial for the newly developed vaccine, RV 144, yielded a 31.2 percent effective rate in those with HIV, a higher percentage than any other vaccine to date.
"For over two decades we have been trying to discover something that can help cure or prevent AIDS," said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the sponsors of the trial. "This is a major breakthrough and although only a minimal number of patients were aided, this small step is very beneficial and gives hope on further research."
The Thailand Ministry of Public Health began conducting a trial for the vaccine in October 2003 on 16,402 volunteers. The volunteers, between the ages of 18 and 30, had a prerequisite that they had to be negative for HIV. The volunteers also had to attend mandatory meetings about HIV prevention.
Half of the volunteers received six injections of the AIDS vaccine, while the other half received a placebo. Over the next three years, all of the volunteers were regularly tested for HIV.
One hundred and twenty-five participants in the whole volunteer group tested positive for HIV after the three years. Seventy-four participants that had contracted HIV received a placebo during the trial. The remaining 51 were given the vaccine. This showed a 31.2 percent effective rate of RV 144, according to the article in The New York Times.
This is a modest result, Fauci said, and although significant it is highly unlikely that this is the end of the road for a cure. Success percentages should at least range from 60 to 80 percent in order to use the vaccine on a larger scale in the United States, Fauci said.
"Once we have these percentages, this is when we will know that we have an effective product," he said.
The RV 144 vaccine is a combination of two previous vaccines produced by medical companies Sanofi-aventis and Genentech. The Sanofi-aventis vaccine, ALVAC-HIV, is a combination of a canarypox virus and three different AIDS gene strands. Genentech's AIDSVAX contains a protein from the AIDS virus. Separately, the vaccines did not get significant results, according to a September article in The New York Times.
The combination of the Sanofi-aventis and Genentech vaccines contributed to the success of the vaccine, Fauci said. The results of the trial can further research with newer developments and vaccines, he said.
Another major issue with the vaccine is that it protected some people and not others, likely a result of biological variability, Fauci said. Each human is built in a different way, so a single vaccine would not protect everyone, he said.
"Some people have a weaker immune response while others have a potent immune response," he said.
sasmit12@syr.edu
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