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news.The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative has initiated a phase II trial in South Africa to test the safety and immunogenicity of Targeted Genetics' preventive HIV vaccine candidate, which is based on HIV subtype C, the subtype of the virus most prevalent in southern and eastern Africa.
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The preventive HIV vaccine candidate, tgAAC09, utilizes a recombinant adeno-associated viral vector (rAAV) that was developed with and manufactured by Targeted Genetics Corporation.
Under the terms of a public-private collaboration, The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is funding development, pre-clinical, and clinical studies to test the vaccine.
The phase II trial follows positive safety data received from a phase I trial conducted over the past two years in Belgium, Germany, and India, in which volunteers received a lower-dose range.
The trial should take about 18 months to complete and will enroll 78 volunteers in total who are in good health. tgAAC09 is designed to elicit two different types of immune responses, an antibody response and a cell-mediated response. The vaccine consists of an artificially made copy of the HIV virus and cannot cause HIV infection or AIDS.
“Preventive vaccines have ended or helped control the most deadly infectious diseases known to man. Finding a vaccine to stop the spread of the HIV virus must be a global priority,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO and president of IAVI.