CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
A group of 22 prominent U.S. AIDS researchers this week called into question whether a $119 million HIV vaccine study launched in Thailand is worth the money--or even if the vaccine combination being studied could ever be effective, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The study, which began in September and includes 16,000 volunteers, is evaluating the combined use of VaxGen's AIDSVAX with Aventis-Pasteur's ALVAC in preventing HIV infection. But two previous Phase III trials of AIDSVAX showed the vaccine had little effect in preventing infection, and early tests of ALVAC were similarly disappointing, according to the researchers. The scientists, writing in the January 16 edition of the journal Science, express their doubts that combining the two ineffective vaccines will result in a viable product. "We seriously question whether it is sensible to conduct a third trial that, in our opinion, is no more likely to generate a meaningful level of protection against infection or disease," they wrote. "One price for repeated failure could be crucial erosion of confidence by the public and politicians in our capability of developing an effective AIDS vaccine." Among the researchers to question the study are Dennis Burton of the Scripps Research Institute; Ronald Desrosiers of Harvard Medical School; Douglas Richman of the University of California, San Diego; Mike McCune of the Gladstone Institute for Virology and Immunology; and HIV codiscoverer Robert Gallo of Baltimore's Institute for Human Virology. Officials at the National Institutes of Health, which is partially funding the study, said in a statement that they "strongly disagree with the authors' opinion." They also said the agency would draft a formal rebuttal to be published in an upcoming edition of Science. "Given the urgency of the situation, we are going with the 'bird in hand,' " said Peggy Johnston, director of vaccine research at the NIH. "We will learn something on this trial, even if it is found to be ineffective."
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
21+ steamy photos of Scotland’s finest gay men in Elska Glasgow
February 01 2024 10:07 PM
More Than 50 of Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Moms
May 12 2024 11:44 AM
Conjoined twins Lori Schappell and trans man George Schappell dead at 62
April 27 2024 6:13 PM
Latest Stories
Pete Buttigieg roasts JD Vance and his gay tech bro billionaire
July 22 2024 1:42 PM
The AIDs pandemic can be ended by 2030, but governments must act: report
July 22 2024 1:01 PM
Conservatives' first attack on Kamala Harris: Pronouns and accessibility?
July 22 2024 12:45 PM
Advancing equality during Disability Pride Month
July 22 2024 11:30 AM
Pete Buttigieg endorses Kamala Harris for president
July 21 2024 7:58 PM