HIV Vaccine?

India’s HIV vaccine programme got a major boost with scientists of the Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC) here reporting significant progress in the first phase of clinical trials for a vaccine to prevent AIDS.Preliminary results of the phase one trial have successfully proved the vaccine’s safety and its ability to stimulate immune response (that might provide protection against infection), the centre’s head said. Confirming the development, TRC director V D Ramanathan said: “The trial was to check the vaccine’s safety and also whether it fulfilled the secondary objective of stimulating immune response. We will announce the results to the world soon after we have the complete analysis of the data.” TRC is affiliated to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which, along with the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), has spearheaded the vaccine trial in India. “The Phase I trial of an MVA-based AIDS vaccine candidate (TBC-M4) was conducted at the TRC in Chennai. The preliminary results of the trial showed that the vaccine candidate was generally safe and well-tolerated and the frequency of immune responses by volunteers after three injections was good. The phase I trial is over, and the final data is under analysis,” said Dr Sonali Kochar, medical director, IAVI India. The initial success of the trial with the MVA (Modified Vacinia Anacara)-based vaccine candidate (TBC-M4) comes in the wake of the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) in Pune winding up research with another vaccine candidate AAV (Adena-Associated Virus). The Pune institute’s trials ended in December 2007, after tests in two other countries, Germany and Belgium, with the same vaccine candidate failed. The vaccine being tested in Chennai has been designed by a Kolkata-based ICMR scientist. To date, there have been at least nine MVA vaccine candidates that have been tested or are currently in testing in labs around the world.Controversy clouded the Pune project with reports that the trial conducted on 30 healthy volunteers continued for a year despite scientists learning even within a fortnight that the AAV vaccine had failed in tests in Germany and Belgium.
Trials to develop an HIV vaccine, being simultaneously conducted worldwide by various laboratories.In India at the Tuberculosis Research Centre in Chetpet, Chennai. It is a member body of the Indian Council for Medical Research The breakthrough Phase I of the trial, which began in Jan 2006, was conducted on 30 HIV-negative volunteers. Objective was to test safety and immune response. Both were successful .Clearing Phase I indicates that the vaccine is generally safe and well-tolerated .National AIDS Control Organisation and ICMR, in collaboration with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative are sponsoring it.In Phase II, vaccine will be tested on 300 men and women. Objective is to double-check safety, immune response and the dosage to be administered. It will take 4 years for this In Phase III, tests will be conducted on 3,000 people from low- and high-risk groups. Trial will last about 8 years