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Promising new developments in the field of HIV vaccine development.
Prof Robin Shattock, Prof of Mucosal Infection and Immunity, Imperial College London, said:
“Before this publication scientists had pretty much given up on the idea of a vaccine that could control HIV replication. This publication puts it firmly back on the agenda. The breakthrough here is in using a viral delivered vaccine the persists – essentially using an engineered virus to thwart a pathogenic virus. The tricky part will be showing it is safe and effective in humans.”
Dr Wayne Koff, chief scientific officer at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, which funded the research, said:
“What’s exciting about these findings is that for the first time a vaccine candidate has been able to fully control the virus in some animals. And surprisingly, the data suggested the possibility that the immune system could eventually eliminate the virus altogether. This research gives us potential clues as to how we might design an HIV vaccine for humans that would provide the same type of control. The next step is to adapt this vaccine strategy so it can be tested in human clinical trials.”
‘Profound early control of highly pathogenic SIV by an effector memory T-cell vaccine’ by Scott G. Hansen et al., published online in Nature at 18:00, Wednesday 11 May.