Your new post is loading...
A promising vaccine that clears an HIV-like virus from monkeys is closer to human testing after a new, weakened version of the vaccine has been shown to provide similar protection as its original version.
The vaccine uses a form of the common herpes virus cytomegalovirus, or CMV—was live-attenuated, or weakened so CMV couldn't spread as easily. The new version still managed to eliminate SIV, the monkey version of HIV, in 59 percent of vaccinated rhesus macaques. That result is similar to earlier findings involving the vaccine's original, non-attenuated version. The immunity generated by the attenuated vaccine was also long-lasting, as nine of 12 vaccinated monkeys could still fight off SIV infection three years later.
"These papers are important because they recapitulate the previously reported unique CMV vector efficacy with a genetically modified vector that is highly attenuated and therefore potentially safer for clinical use" said Louis Picker, M.D., a corresponding author on both papers. "In addition, this new work demonstrates most vaccinated rhesus monkeys that are protected against SIV can also be protected against a second challenge years after initial vaccination. This is a level of durability that would be very important for a human HIV vaccine". The CMV vaccine platform has been licensed by Vir Biotechnology, Inc., of San Francisco, which plans to lead a clinical trial with a human version of the CMV-based HIV vaccine.
The studies were published on July 17 on Science Translational Medicine:
