South Africa to host phase II AIDS vaccine trials

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa’s first phase II HIV
vaccine trials intended to help battle an AIDS epidemic were
launched by charitable group the International AIDS Vaccine
Initiative (IAVI) and U.S.-based Targeted Genetics Corporation.

The trials will test the safety of tgAAC09, a vaccine
candidate that is based on the HIV sub-type most prevalent in
southern and eastern Africa, the two groups said in a joint
statement on Monday.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region hardest hit by AIDS, with
more than 25 million people estimated to be infected with HIV,
the virus that leads to the disease.

South Africa has the highest caseload of HIV in the world,
with about one in nine of its 45 million population carrying
the virus, while in neighbouring Botswana and Swaziland
prevalence is as high as 40 percent.

“We are pleased that South Africa has taken a leading role
in the testing of vaccine candidates given the medical and
humanitarian promise a preventative vaccine holds,” said
Eftyhia Vardas, a doctor at the country’s Perinatal HIV
Research Unit, who will coordinate the trials.

Investigators test the immune response and acquire more
data on safety during second phase trials on drugs that have
already been proven safe during first phase tests.

The vaccine candidate, developed by U.S.-based Targeted
Genetics, will be tested on 78 volunteers at three sites in
South Africa. The trial is expected to last 18 months.

IAVI, a global non-profit organization working to
accelerate the development of an AIDS vaccine, estimates that
around 30 preventative HIV vaccine candidates are in human
trials.