A New Hope for HIV Prevention: Clinical Trial of VIR-1388 Vaccine Begins


A New Hope for HIV Prevention: Clinical Trial of VIR-1388 Vaccine Begins

About HIV

One of the most deadly infectious diseases in human history is AIDS, which is brought on by the HIV virus. The World Health Organization estimates that at the end of 2020, there were roughly 38 million individuals living with HIV and 690,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses. Antiretroviral therapy and other preventative measures are available, but there is still no effective treatment or vaccine for HIV. HIV vaccine research has been ongoing for more than three decades, but it is still one of the most challenging and complex endeavors in biomedical research.


Trial Details 

registration in a new trial of a potential preventive HIV vaccine has started in South Africa and the United States, providing fresh optimism for putting an end to the HIV pandemic. The Phase 1 trial will assess the safety and potential for inducing an immune response specific to HIV in humans of a new vaccine known as VIR-1388.

95 HIV-negative patients will be enrolled in the HVTN 142 study, which is being conducted at six sites in the United States and four in South Africa. Four trial arms—three of which will each receive a different dose of the vaccine, and one of which will receive a placebo—will be randomly assigned to participants. This study will only include participants who have CMV and are currently asymptomatic in order to maximize participant safety.

Initial findings are anticipated in late 2024, and a voluntary long-term sub-study will keep volunteers under observation for up to three years following their first vaccination. Under the study code NCT05854381, more details regarding the investigation are accessible on ClinicalTrials.gov.


Understanding of VIR-1388

In order to stop HIV from causing chronic infection, VIR-1388 instructs the immune system to make T cells that can recognize the virus and activate an immunological response. By employing a weakened form of the cytomegalovirus (CMV), VIR-1388 is able to deliver the HIV vaccine to the immune system without infecting the trial participants.

Most people contract the CMV virus at some point in their lives, but it rarely results in any symptoms or major health issues. CMV has the potential to deliver and then safely assist the body in maintaining HIV vaccine material for a long length of time, perhaps overcoming the decreasing immunity seen with more short-lived vaccine vectors. CMV remains detectable in the body for life.


Funding & Support

The National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has supported this work financially and scientifically throughout the development of the idea for an HIV vaccine. The San Francisco-based company Vir Biotechnology is funding the trial, which is being carried out as research HVTN 142 through the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), which is supported by NIAID.


What are the current prevention methods for HIV?

  • Using medicines to treat HIV, such as antiretroviral therapy (ART), which can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood and lower the risk of passing it to others.
  • Using medicines to prevent HIV, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), which can prevent HIV infection in people who are exposed to the virus through sex or injection drug use.
  •  However, no single method is 100% effective. 
  •  Barrier methods like condoms during sex, regular sexual partner testing, and avoidance of sharing needles can also help prevent HIV transmission.

What are the current challenges in HIV vaccine research?

  • The diversity and variability of HIV, which makes it difficult to design a vaccine that can protect against a wide range of strains and subtypes. 
  • The lack of natural immunity to HIV, which means that there is no clear model of what kind of immune response is needed to prevent or control infection.
  •  The difficulty of inducing broadly neutralizing antibodies, which are rare and complex molecules that can block most HIV strains from entering cells.
  • The ethical and logistical issues of conducting large-scale clinical trials in populations at high risk of HIV exposure, especially in resource-limited settings.

What are the symptoms of HIV?

  • A flu-like illness that happens 2 to 6 weeks after exposure to the virus. This may include fever, rash, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, headache, muscle aches, and fatigue. 
  •  Oral thrush, which is a fungal infection that causes white patches in the mouth or on the tongue. 
  •  Night sweats, which are episodes of excessive sweating during sleep. 
  •  Weight loss, which may be sudden and unexplained. 
  •  Opportunistic infections, which are infections that take advantage of a weakened immune system. These may include tuberculosis, pneumonia, meningitis, and some cancers.


Conclusion 

The researchers hope that VIR-1388 will prove to be safe and immunogenic,so it can be easier for further development and testing of the vaccine. If this trial is successful, it could save millions of lives and prevent new infections.