mRNA HIV vaccine candidate launches first-in-Africa study

The nonprofit scientific research organization IAVI and Massachusetts-based Moderna, Inc. recently announced that a Phase I clinical trial of an mRNA HIV vaccine antigen (mRNA-1644) will soon launch at the Center for Family Health Research (CFHR) in Kigali, Rwanda, and The Aurum Institute in Tembisa, South Africa. The IAVI-sponsored trial, IAVI G003, builds on progress in HIV vaccine research. Recent findings from the Phase I clinical trial IAVI G001 showed that vaccination with the HIV immunogen eOD-GT8 60mer as a recombinant protein safely induced the targeted immune responses in 97% of recipients (healthy U.S. adults). The immune response — targeting and expanding a specific class of B cells — is needed to develop broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). The induction of bnAbs is widely considered a goal of an efficacious HIV vaccine, and this B-cell activation is the first step in that process. IAVI G003 is designed to test the hypothesis that vaccination with eOD-GT8 60mer,...