Health News
2005-08-02
India launches
human trials of second HIV vaccine
Health officials
announced that India has approved human trials for the
country's second preventive HIV vaccine candidate. India
Health officials
announced that India has approved human trials for the
country's second preventive HIV vaccine candidate. India,
home to more than 5.13 million HIV-positive people,
began human trials on its first vaccine in February,
and authorities say those are going well.
In February, 34
healthy adult volunteers began trials for the tgAAC09
vaccine, which targets HIV subtype C, widely prevalent in
India, South Africa, and China. In September, at least
30 volunteers will participate in a trial for the
Modified Vaccinia Ankara, which also targets HIV
subtype C.
Officials say the
first phase of such trials involves vaccines being
tested on HIV-negative volunteers who understand the risks
of possible HIV infection and have signed on to the
trial. In the second phase of the trial, the vaccine
will be given to a small group of high-risk
HIV-negative individuals--sex workers, gay men, and
injection-drug users--to check the efficacy of the
dosage. If the vaccine works in both groups, it will
then be tested on a group of up to 1,000 HIV-negative
volunteers in the third phase.
The International
AIDS Vaccine Initiative, which coordinates the global
search for a vaccine, says India is important because of its
advanced biomedical research facilities and strong
pharmaceutical industry that manufactures generic
anti-HIV drugs that are widely exported. Nonetheless,
many Indians cannot afford 1,300 rupees ($29.90 U.S.) a
month for an antiretroviral regimen. (Reuters)
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